Matt Flynn's acquisition by the Oakland Raiders was only the first quarterback domino to fall Monday. Carson Palmer's future also is expected to be decided soon.
NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported Monday that the Arizona Cardinals currently are working on a trade with the Raiders for Palmer, according to sources informed of the talks. Compensation would be a very low pick, and Palmer is expected to be open to restructuring his contract to get it done. Yahoo! Sports reported a deal is "almost done." In other words: Palmer is down with the move.
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Palmer will take a pay cut if he lands in Arizona, and one source told Rapoport that Palmer's future salary will be less than $10 million. He was slated to make $13 million with the Raiders, so Palmer's pay reduction would be at least $3 million, something he had resisted doing with the Raiders.
With Palmer expected to join the team, the Cardinals might continue their efforts to trade Brian Hoyer, who signed a one-year qualifying offer on Monday. The Cardinals also released John Skelton on Monday.
It only appears to be a matter of time before the Cardinals bring Palmer aboard. It's a reminder that we should never take offseason chatter too seriously.
It was only two weeks ago that Drew Stanton was being talked up by Cardinals coach Bruce Arians as the potential answer at quarterback. And we also heard last week that Palmer might have preferred to be a backup on a contender rather than a starter on an also-ran.
A source close to Stanton told Rapoport that Stanton knew the Palmer trade was a strong possibility when he signed March 13.
Instead, Palmer will go to a place that gives him the most potential for money and playing time. Arians might have sold Palmer on the Cardinals' ability to contend right away with a strong defensive roster and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
(Arians probably didn't mention the three other fearsome defenses in the NFC West. Or the Cardinals' offensive line.)
UPDATE: Palmer was traded to the Cardinals on Tuesday.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
