NFL Free Agency: Will Kevin Kolb Lead Cardinals to Playoff Success?

We knew it was going to happen, but it is finally official. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb has been traded to the Arizona Cardinals.

As far as I can tell, the first person to break the news was Philadelphia NFL sage Adam Caplan, who reported the trade was final via Twitter. The terms of the trade, according to Caplan, have Kolb going to Arizona in exchange for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft pick.

But that's not all. Caplan also notes that Kolb is going to sign a five-year extension worth $63 million, with $21 million guaranteed (though ESPN's John Clayton says it's $22 million guaranteed). Not a bad deal for a guy who has thrown fewer than 200 passes in his four years in the NFL.

Either way, there's no denying that all involved parties are getting exactly what they want in this deal. The Eagles are getting a Pro Bowl corner and a high draft pick, Kolb is getting plenty of money, and the Cardinals now have themselves a quarterback not named Derek Anderson, John Skelton or Max Hall.

In case you weren't paying attention last season, that's a good thing. Thanks to the collective ineptitude of sirs Anderson, Skelton, and Hall, the Cardinals had one of the worst passing attacks in the NFL in 2010. Only the Carolina Panthers managed fewer passing yards as a team, and Arizona's completion percentage of 50.8 was dead last in the league. Moreover, the Cardinals threw an NFL-worst nine touchdown passes.

But no matter. It's a new year, and the organization's savior has arrived. The Cardinals didn't really make much of an effort to hide their interest in Kolb before, during, and after the NFL lockout, and we know that he was star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald's first choice for the team's starting quarterback gig. He even went so far as to arrange a throwing session with Kolb earlier this month.

Well, it's a good thing that the two of them already seem to have a nice rapport. Depending on who you ask, Fitzgerald is the best wide receiver in the game. Heck, he even managed to produce a fourth straight 1,000-yard season in 2010, and that was with Curly, Larry, and Moe throwing to him.

If Fitzgerald is capable of doing that, it stands to reason he'll do even better with Kolb throwing to him. And if there's one thing we know about Kolb, it's...

Wait a second, what do we know about Kolb? All his résumé tells me is that he only has 11 touchdown passes in his career, seven of which came last year, when he began the season as the Eagles’ starter before he got injured and was supplanted by Michael Vick. I guess seven touchdowns isn’t bad considering Kolb had limited playing time, but the 12 turnovers he committed kinda put a damper on things.

Basically, the Cardinals are taking it on faith that Kolb is going to come into his own with a steady gig and an elite wide receiver at his disposal. Hey, if it worked with Matt Schaub and the Houston Texans, so why can't it work with Kolb and the Cardinals?

Fair point. And if Kolb does indeed end up rewarding Arizona's faith in him, it wouldn't be at all surprising if they returned to their playoff form of 2008 and 2009. The team's running game and defense is still suspect until further notice, but such concerns are easily rendered obsolete by an elite passing attack.

I say again, an elite passing attack. Such things are hard to come by in the NFL, and the ones that are in place were not created overnight. By bringing in Kolb, the Cardinals seem to be hoping to challenge that rule.

If they end up being successful in this regard, well, bravo. And because the NFC West is probably going to be just as weak in 2011 as it was in 2011, the division may already be Arizona's to lose.

For now, though, the Cardinals have merely taken their first step into the great unknown.

-Zachary D. Rymer