The Arizona Cardinals need to start looking for Carson Palmer’s replacement this year, but it’s reportedly not going to be Jay Cutler.
Regarding Cutler to Cardinals speculation: Cardinals have zero interest in Cutler. None.
— Kent Somers (@kentsomers) February 21, 2017
This nugget from Kent Somers is a direct response to some speculation by The MMQB’s Peter King. He said that Bruce Arians might be potentially interested in Cutler as a reclamation project, given his ability to launch the ball downfield.
We wrote about that yesterday and pretty much came to the exact same conclusion as Somers. While he’s almost certain to be on the outs in Chicago, Cutler isn’t going to be headed to Arizona and the Cardinals would rather look to the draft for Palmer’s eventual replacement.
One of the quarterbacks who could be on Arizona’s radar is Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, whom they are reportedly considering making a move up in the first round to nab (more on that here).
Other gunslingers that could intrigue Arians include DeShone Kizer out of Notre Dame, Josh Allen out of Wyoming or even Patrick Mahomes from Texas Tech.
Then there’s the possibility that the Cardinals believe they can get by without drafting a top signal caller for one more year. Though, it should be noted that neither Drew Stanton, Zac Dysert or any of the free agent options on the market offer much appeal.
Clearly, Arizona needs to get a move on to find a short-term and/or long-term replacement for Palmer, who’s at the end of his career and is coming off a miserable 2016 campaign. Just don’t expect it to be Cutler, who missed 11 games last year and continues to be interception prone even as a tenured veteran.