John Skelton never should have been a starting quarterback so soon, so often.
The 2010 fifth-round draft pick out of Fordham wound up starting 17 games over three seasons for Ken Whisenhunt on the Arizona Cardinals, a symbol of the post Kurt Warner-era gone wrong.
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On Monday, the Cardinals mercifully ended that era. The team released Skelton after three seasons. The move makes room for the expected addition of Carson Palmer via a trade with the Oakland Raiders.
Skelton's big arm and toughness in the pocket tantalized at times, but he never was able to make great progress. He was Whisenhunt's choice to be the team's Week 1 starter last season before getting hurt. He wound up starting six games, the third straight season he started at least four games. It wasn't Skelton's fault that he was forced to play so much despite being so raw. It was Whisenhunt and former general manager Rod Graves' fault for not finding anyone better.
The team also announced Monday that quarterback Brian Hoyer signed his restricted free-agent tender. That allows the Cardinals possibly to shop and deal Hoyer, although it's hard to imagine them getting anything for him.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
