Carson Palmer willing to be backup, Arizona Cardinals still have not done evaluation on him

The Carson Palmer situation seems to be what is the biggest story in the NFL right now. He is due a whole bunch of money this season and represents a large salary cap number for the Oakland Raiders. He is unwilling to renegotiate his deal and the team originally seemed unlike to keep him around. However, there are reportedly some new wrinkles to the story and some connections to the Arizona Cardinals, who happen to come up when any possible available quarterback is mentioned.

The Raiders have salary cap room right now. They don't have to cut him. They just might not want to pay him that much. However, as noted by Dan Hanzus for a piece on NFL.com, a team source stated that Oakland is willing to pay Palmer's salary..."right now."

Another report by Mike Silver for Yahoo! Sports indicates that Palmer is ready to move on.

"Carson isn't 28, and he doesn't know how much time he has left," one source close to Palmer said Wednesday. "Does he want to be with a team that is clearly rebuilding and looks like it's a long way away from contending, where he doesn't have a whole lot around him?

"He's gotten to play a lot in his career, but he hasn't gotten to experience a lot of winning. At this point, I think being somewhere where they have a chance to win is the most important thing."

This sounds an awful lot like how things played out in Cincinnati. He was ready to retire rather than play for the Bengals. It sounds like he will be willing to get cut, take a paycut and land somewhere where winning could happen.

Of course, the Cardinals' quarterback situation comes up. However, with the tough division, he might want to look elsewhere.

On the Cardinals' side, reports are that the team has not yet done a thorough evaluation of Palmer, so while there may be interest on the part of the team, it is not the highest priority. Of course, that simply could be because no move seems imminent. Regardless, the team does not seem willing to pay Palmer the $10 million price tag that he could come with to be a starter.

I would not doubt that he is willing to be a backup for a winner and competitor. i just don't think that he would be willing to be a backup for the Cardinals.

While he is not the QB he once was in Cincinnati, he would most certainly be a drastic improvement over last year's performance from the position. Palmer threw for over 4000 yards for a team that was just not very good and to guys that are nowhere near the caliber of the core of receivers that the Cardinals have.

While this story is gaining tread currently, no move seems likely because there is no reason to move Palmer yet. None of his money is due now.

Does this change anything for you?

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