The Arizona Cardinals’ playoff chances are fairly slim right now, but they got a huge win in Week 12, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars on a Phil Dawson 57-yard field goal in the closing seconds. The Cardinals improved to 1-1 since Blaine Gabbert took over as starting quarterback, in place of an injured Drew Stanton, who was starting in place of an injured Carson Palmer.
Gabbert put together a good enough performance on Sunday, completing 22 of 38 passes for 241 yards, with two touchdowns, one interception, and a lost fumble. Gabbert has thrown five touchdown passes in two games, which matches his total in five games last year with the 49ers. He has given the Cardinals a chance to win both games, but he has had turnovers that helped cost them one win and kept the win over Jacksonville a little bit closer.
There have been questions about Carson Palmer’s future, and there has been some chatter that maybe the Cardinals have an answer in Gabbert. Head coach Bruce Arians followed up on that on Monday, saying he would be comfortable with Gabbert as his starting quarter if Palmer elected to retire.
Arians said if Palmer were to retire, he’d be comfortable with Gabbert being the QB next year. #azcardianls
— Kent Somers (@kentsomers) November 27, 2017
I don’t know the full context of this, but I wouldn’t expect Arians to say that no he is not comfortable with Gabbert as the future. They will however be one of many teams this offseason worth considering in the QB race. There will be some free agent options to go along with a potentially sizable draft class, and I have to think whether or not Palmer retires, we see Arizona active in searching for some long term options.