After 14 seasons in the NFL, quarterback Carson Palmer announced his retirement. Palmer announced his retirement through the Arizona Cardinals in a letter posted on the teams website and shared on social media. Palmer, 38, missed the final nine games of the 2017 season after breaking his left non-throwing arm against the Los Angeles Rams. The announcement comes after weeks of rumors circulating regarding his future at the team.
Palmer came to the Cardinals in 2013, the first season with Bruce Arians in charge, and led the team to a 10-6 record. He passed for a then-career high of 4,724 yards while 24 touchdowns. In 2015, Palmer led a 13-3 Cardinals team to the NFC Championship game, throwing for a career high 4,671 and 35 touchdowns. Palmer was the big-armed quarterback that Arians loved to stretch the field with. In just five seasons with the team, Palmer is fourth in franchise history with 16,782 passing yards and fourth in passing touchdowns. The only players above Palmer in both categories played nearly twice as long with the Cardinals during their tenure.
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Overall, Palmer played 14 seasons with the Bengals, Raiders and finally Cardinals. In NFL history, Palmer finishes in the top 15 in both passing yards (46,247) and touchdown passes (294). He’s thrown for more yards than Dan Fouts and thrown more touchdowns than Warren Moon or Johnny Unitas. Considering Palmer cumulatively missed nearly three full seasons, it is fair to wonder just how much higher and better Palmer could have been.
The decision to retire by Palmer leaves the Cardinals without a single quarterback under contract for 2018. With a head coaching search getting into full swing, add the quarterback position to the list of growing needs this offseason Keim and the front office.
– Ryan Adverderada is the Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage Cardinals. Like and follow on Follow @ryanadverderada Follow @Cardinals and Facebook.