On Saturday, Kevin Kolb was due a $2 million dollar signing bonus. On Friday morning, the Cardinals decided to release the quarterback after two seasons with the team.
Kolb as acquired via trade from the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011 in exchange for a second round pick and defensive back Dominique Rogers-Cromartie. He appeared in 15 out of a possible 32 games over the two year span (14 of them were starts), completing 58.4% of his passes and throwing 17 touchdowns to 11 interceptions.
On top of the $2 million the Cardinals were to owe Kolb Saturday, they were to owe him a total of $9 million next season. As a result, the Cardinals save over $7 million in cap space.
In light of the Cardinals signing quarterback Drew Stanton, many thought that this was automatically going to result in Kolb’s release. However, Adam Caplan of PhiladelphiaEagles.com reported on Twitter that the Cardinals did reach out to Kolb to keep him on the team by re-structuring his contract. But Kolb rejected the proposal and the Cardinals released him soon after.
Since the Stanton signing, Kolb has been rumored to a few teams but the one most notably is the New York Jets.
For the Cardinals along with Stanton, quarterbacks on the roster include Brian Hoyer and the team will most likely keep either John Skelton or Ryan Lindley. And there is always the draft as well.
Jared Cohen
