Arizona Cardinals: Could Drew Stanton be the QB in waiting?
Is it possible Drew Stanton could lead the Arizona Cardinals after Carson Palmer’s retirement?
A few weeks ago it was announced that the Cardinals’ backup quarterback Drew Stanton agreed to a 2 year 6.5 million dollar contract to stay with the team. While the team is actively looking for a franchise quarterback to groom for the coming years, is it too far fetched to consider Stanton himself as the heir to Palmer?
Carson Palmer is 36 years old and is set to turn 37 come December. Realistically, he can only play at a high level for 2 or 3 more seasons, and the Cardinals will need have his replacement ready to go when he retires. Rather than selecting a quarterback from this draft class and run the risk of him turning into another Logan Thomas, the Cardinals could possibly afford to have Stanton take over once Palmer decides to hang it up.
There are many things in favor of Stanton being the future starter. The biggest one being is he has spent a significant amount of time in Bruce Arians’ offense. Stanton has spent the last four seasons in Arians’ system and was initially brought to the desert to be the starter.
Another thing in Stanton’s favor is his track record in Palmer’s absence. When Carson Palmer missed time with a nerve issue and a torn ACL in 2014, Stanton went 5-3 as a starter and threw for 1711 yards and 7 touchdowns along with 5 interceptions. He has shown he is capable of leading offense and now imagine what he could do with a whole off season of preparation.
The only drawback with Stanton taking over for Palmer is his age. If Palmer were to retire after the 2017 season, Stanton would be 34 years old which is roughly the same age Palmer was when he first arrived in Arizona.
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It is still likely that the Cardinals will draft a quarterback this year, regardless of whether or not they have Stanton involved with their long term plans. Time will tell whether the quarterback drafted will have grasped the intricacies of Arians’ offense by the time it comes for him to start. If not, the Cardinals can breath easy knowing they have Drew Stanton waiting in the wings.