The Peyton Manning derby appears to be down to three teams.
While the Denver Broncos, Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers are still in the mix, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said Arizona is moving on with Kevin Kolb, who received his $7 million bonus from the team on Friday.
"Since the end of last season we made it very clear that our plan was to head into 2012 with Kevin Kolb and John Skelton, let the process play out and -- like at every position -- go with the quarterback who gives us the best chance to win," Whisenhunt said in a team statement.
"Obviously something very unique and unexpected presented itself. We've said it many times: if there's an opportunity to make our team better we'll explore it; we view the potential of adding a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback as one of those. The organization quickly put together an aggressive plan to go after it. We're proud of that and feel very strongly about what we have to offer as a team and as an organization. In the end it didn't work out but from our perspective it was very positive and we certainly don't have any regrets about it.
General manager Rod Graves said in February that Arizona would likely pick up Kolb's bonus, but the pursuit of Manning muddied the waters.
Whisenhunt clarified the team is ready to move on with who they have.
"We sit here today in the same spot we were heading into the offseason. That's with two experienced quarterbacks who have both demonstrated positive things in the past and who we feel good about. Like we said at the end of the season when we won seven of the last nine games, carrying the momentum of that strong finish into 2012 is important and that remains unchanged."
