Arizona Cardinals: Carson Palmer retires

While not a huge shock, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer still surprised with a retirement announcement on Tuesday

Well, that didn’t take long.  Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer has called it a career.  This comes just one day after coach Bruce Arians announced his retirement.

Palmer, who was lost for the season on October 22nd in London against the Los Angeles Rams with a broken arm, had said he would wait until the season ended to decide whether he was returning next year or not.

Some believed the decision to return might not be all his, that it could be dictated by the Cardinals. Certainly he could have decided to finish off somewhere else.

There has to be a belief this decision was made easier with the retirement of Arians.  Now, we just wait for receiver Larry Fitzgerald on his decision for 2018.

Palmer came to the Cardinals in 2013, thought to be much like Kurt Warner when he arrived, a stop-gap quarterback until the Cardinals could draft their franchise quarterback. Palmer became almost as successful as Warner during his time in Arizona.

Palmer in his five years in Arizona threw for 16,782-yards.  Two of those seasons were cut short by injury.  He only started seven games in 2017 and six in 2014.  He had 105 touchdowns and 57 interceptions.

Of those 57 interceptions, 22 came in 2013 alone, his first season under Arians.  Once he got used to Arians system, his interceptions went drastically down.

Related Story: Arizona Cardinals: Bruce Arians retires

His best season came in 2015 with 35 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.  Given the status of the offense in 2017, he was playing fairly well before he went down with the broken arm.

Now the task moves on to finding the next quarterback for the Cardinals.  Do they go free agency?  Do they draft the quarterback of the future?  There is a lot of unknown at the moment.

For now, we thank Palmer for five really fun years in the desert.  He closes out a very good 15-year career.  He finishes it with 46,247-yards passing with 294 touchdowns and 187 interceptions.