Arizona Cardinals in Full Win-Now Mode with Carson Palmer Extension

At some point this season the Arizona Cardinals' short-term future changed.

They were torn apart by injuries early and perhaps internally acknowledging a tough upcoming year in the battle dome that is the NFC West. They would fight on, sure, but in the process they would also regroup.

Not rebuild but tweak and tinker while developing core young players at key positions. That included Logan Thomas, the raw but promising rookie quarterback with a bazooka arm who was selected in the fourth round last spring. He’s the latest project for head coach and quarterback whisperer Bruce Arians.

Then a strange thing happened: winning. A lot of it, and with another win this Sunday the Cardinals will be 8-1 for the first time since 1948. Suddenly the focus shifted, with the short term prioritized.

And suddenly Carson Palmer needed a contract extension.

Negotiations started back in mid-October, with the stated goal being to reach an agreement before the end of this season, according to Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic.

At the time, those who make important decisions for the Cardinals surely wanted to gauge Palmer’s health and how quickly he could rebound from a shoulder nerve injury that briefly had his season in doubt (he missed three games).

Now, since his return, the Cardinals have won four straight games. He’s thrown at least two touchdown passes in all five of his starts this season and only two interceptions on 161 pass attempts. And he’s done all that while providing stability as a strong-armed quarterback now getting better protection, fitting as the ideal passing centerpiece of an Arians offense.

That’s what Palmer has grown to become, and he’s the quarterback both Arians and Cardinals general manager Steve Keim want to keep with a championship window suddenly opening. But risk still needed to be managed as Palmer fights time and age (two mighty foes that remain undefeated) while getting set to turn 35 years old next month.

And you do that by giving your effective yet age-challenged quarterback a three-year extension, which isn’t a three-year extension at all. In reality, it’s a one-year deal with two option years, the classic pay-as-you-go structure.

As with any quarterback contract when it first surfaces through the web’s interconnecting tubes, the maximum value gets all the attention ($50 million). The structure of a contract doesn’t have much sex appeal.

But what the Cardinals just did with Palmer’s guaranteed money and when he’s getting it is pretty damn sexy. Of his total new money only $20.5 million is guaranteed, according to ESPN.com. And all of that guaranteed cash will be paid by the end of next season.

So let’s hammer this home one more time: It’s a one-year commitment. Then if Palmer is still healthy and playing at a high level—or at least a sufficient one for Arians’ liking—then he can remain the Cardinals starting quarterback up until the end of the 2017 season.

It’s a short-term solution at quarterback for a team that needs one, with the potential for it to become a longer fix. Though 2014 could be Larry Fitzgerald’s final season in the desert, there’s still plenty of offensive youth elsewhere among running back Andre Ellington and wide receivers John Brown and Michael Floyd.

As Palmer continues to feel comfortable in Arians’ vertical system, the results while working with those weapons could lead to a lot of large numbers. He’s turned a corner since the midway point of last season.

His production while under pressure is even more impressive given Palmer’s statue status.

He’s never been a mobile quarterback, and he’ll never be a mobile quarterback. Instead Palmer manages pressure before the snap, making the proper reads and protection adjustments to still have a positive play or at worst minimize the damage.

The result this year has been a completion percentage of 70.0 and 8.4 yards per attempt during the 50 times Palmer has faced a blitz, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Of course, part of the credit for that also goes to improved offensive line play, with left tackle Jared Veldheer added this past offseason. A year ago Palmer was playing behind a gushing waterfall and had already been sacked 12 times over his first five starts (including two games with four sacks). This year over the same stretch he’s only gone down six times.

But Palmer’s arm strength despite his nerve issue is still his most impressive quality. He’s been eased in slowly (and wisely) after missing three games and now has a passer rating of 135.4 on balls traveling 20-plus yards through the air to both the deep middle and left sections of the field, per PFF.

Concerns about Palmer’s arm date back to 2011 when he was fighting through an elbow injury. Even then they were swatted aside by former Oakland Raiders head coach Hue Jackson. A quarterback who lacks arm zip doesn’t even consider attempting this pass…

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

That’s a moment frozen in time just before Palmer released his game-winning heave to Brown in Week 8. The play began at the Cardinals’ own 25-yard line, so even before Palmer’s throw started its journey the intended target was already 20 yards downfield.

For Palmer the throw looked easy and didn’t seem to require max effort. He stepped forward in the ample pocket provided, rotated his hips and fired a high-arcing throw. When it hit Brown in stride and finally settled the ball had been airborne for 40 yards.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

That’s not a completion from a quarterback who’s fading fast.

Palmer can keep chucking those darts for a 7-1 team, the best record in the NFC West, the entire NFC and the league. He can keep feeding Brown deep while being supported by Fitzgerald’s rumbling after short-yardage looks and Ellington’s elusiveness that also turns short passes into long gains. And he can keep doing all that while buying Thomas more time to develop as his replacement, whenever that future comes.

There’s a lot to like about Palmer’s new contract, and maybe a whole lot more is coming soon.