We could be getting closer to a resolution of Carson Palmer’s status with the Raiders.
Based on a report from Adam Schefter of ESPN, the resolution could be that Palmer finds a new place to continue his career. Schefter reports that it is “highly unlikely” Palmer agrees to restructure his $13 million contract with the Raiders, which means Oakland will have the choice of paying him that money or releasing him. Since the team has already said they want to give Terrelle Pryor a chance to compete for the quarterback job, it’s unlikely they’d pay $13 million for a player that could wind up as a backup.
Dropping Palmer would free up some salary cap space for the Raiders, who could then turn to the draft for more quarterback help and concentrate on building up other areas while seeing what Pryor or a rookie can do with the job. It’s not an ideal situation, but the team probably won’t be in considerably worse shape than they would be if Palmer remains at quarterback this season.
Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic thinks the Cardinals will be interested in Palmer if he shakes free, which is not the first time that Arizona has come up as a likely landing spot. We reported earlier this month that people around the league believe Arizona is waiting for Palmer to become free. Palmer’s arm certainly fits the kind of deep passing that Bruce Arians likes to feature in his offense, so there could be more quarterback shuffling to come.