What would it take for Cardinals to acquire Carson Palmer?

Arizona Sports News online

The Cardinals seem to be in the market for Carson Palmer. But just how seriously are they interested in him, and how much are they willing to give up to get him?

According to various sources, Arizona would be willing to make a deal to acquire Palmer in exchange for late round draft picks, preferably conditional picks. Palmer would also have to be willing to restructure his contract.

The last Arizona quarterback to come in with high expectations, Kevin Kolb, carried a steep price, but failed to perform for a number of reasons. Cardinals fans don’t want another nightmare like that to happen again, especially so soon after their breakup with Kolb.

The big sticking point for Palmer and the Raiders right now is the $13 million he’s due this coming season. They don’t want to pay him that much money. They want him to take a pay cut and he’s not willing to do that, so Oakland is exploring other options such as releasing him and working a deal for another quarterback.

The Raiders are said to be exploring a trade that would bring them quarterback Matt Flynn from the Seahawks, providing he’s willing to reconfigure his contract.

I’d like to think the market would be reasonably high for Palmer, so it would behoove the Cardinals to jump on him once the Raiders release him, because other teams would be ready to make a deal for him.

If the Cardinals were to acquire Palmer,there would be little chance they’d draft a quarterback in the draft, because they’d be back up to five quarterbacks on the roster – Palmer, Drew Stanton, John Skelton, Ryan Lindley and Brian Hoyer. This would open up options for them to draft offensive line guys or add to their recently-departed defensive backfield.