5 most disappointing trades in Arizona Cardinals history

Trade for Kevin Kolb in 2011

In 2010, the Cardinals took the field without quarterback Kurt Warner on their roster for the first time since the 2004 season. It didn’t go well, at all.

Three different signal-callers started under center for Arizona during the 2010 season (Derek Anderson, John Skelton, Max Hall) and the team only managed to win five games.

So after the disappointing 2010 campaign, the Cardinals went out and made a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for quarterback Kevin Kolb. In order to acquire Kolb, Arizona sent cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and 2012 second-round draft pick to the Eagles.

It seemed like the Cardinals gave up a lot to get a quarterback who had a 3-4 record as a starter in four seasons with Philadelphia. Turns out, Arizona gave up too much.

While the Cardinals ended up finishing 8-8 in 2011, it wasn’t due to the play of Kolb. The Arizona quarterback led the team to only three wins in nine starts in 2011 while completing just 57.7 percent of his passes for 1,955 yards, nine touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

Kolb’s second season with the Cardinals didn’t go much better as he only started five games and wound up on injured reserve thanks to a rib injury.

For the compensation package they gave up to acquire him, Arizona was probably hoping for Kolb to lead the team to more than six wins as a starter in his two seasons with the franchise. But that’s not what happened.