Bruce Arians: Finding Heir To Carson Palmer Will Be One Of Their “Main Objectives”

Cardinals HC Bruce Arians mentioned that one of their main objectives this offseason will be to find an heir at quarterback to veteran Carson Palmer.

“I hope to. That will be one of our main objectives in the offseason is to make sure the franchise isn’t in the situation it was after Kurt (Warner), that the next guy is here and ready to roll,” Arians said, per Mike Jurecki.

Many have expected the Cardinals to target a quarterback early in recent drafts but they’ve yet to come away with a young prospect to groom as an eventual successor to Palmer.

Last year, Arizona appeared to be in position to grab Paxton Lynch, but the Broncos prevented that from happening by jumping the Cardinals in a trade with the Seahawks.

The Cardinals later signed Palmer to a one-year extension before the start of the 2016 season that keeps him under team control through 2017.

There has been some question as to whether Palmer will return next year, but he told reporters a few weeks that he hasn’t thought about next year but he expects to play in 2017.

Cardinals GM Steve Keim also admitted that “based on conversations I had with them in training camp, I’d be surprised if [Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald] didn’t play next year.”

Palmer, 36, was in the third year of his four-year, $58.5 million contract and set to make a base salary of $6.35 million for the 2016 season when the Cardinals signed him to a one-year extension worth $24.35 million before the start of the season.

In 2016, Palmer has appeared in 12 games and thrown for 4,233  yards while completing 61 percent of his passes to go along with 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Pro Football Focus has Palmer rated as the No. 17 quarterback out of 36 qualifying players.