Arizona Cardinals: Bruce Arians provides thoughts on quarterback

Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians joined Pro Football Talk Live on Tuesday morning

With the NFL owners meeting taking place in Phoenix this week it was a no-brainer to have Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians around for interviews.  He talked with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk Live on Tuesday.

One of the topics brought up in the 10-minute interview was the state of Carson Palmer and the quarterback situation.  It is one of the issues most brought up by Cardinals fans and media.

He was asked with Palmer nearing retirement, how important it was to find a quarterback while Palmer was still around.  Arians gave a very interesting answer.

He talked about how the Cardinals the last two years had a quarterback they were ready to take only to have that player taken the pick before them.  He did not identify names.  Arians said he doesn’t reach for a quarterback.

Arians said there are six or seven good arms in this upcoming draft.  Again, he did not divulge who those guys were.  There’s a good chance at least a couple of those guys are first rounders but we don’t know for sure.

"“You never want to push a quarterback up the board, that’s when you make mistakes” – Bruce Arians"

He mentioned he looks for quarterbacks that have the smarts and the heart.  Sounds reasonable. Unfortunately that doesn’t always pay off in the NFL.

The Cardinals have never wavered on their initial statement back at the beginning of January when they said they would be searching for the quarterback of their future this offseason.  That likely means the draft.

The Cardinals have the luxury of drafting a quarterback this season much like they draft offensive linemen.  As Arians told Florio, “we draft them for next year”.  In this case it could be as many as two years away before the next Cardinals quarterback gets his chance.