The Cardinals got some good news about their 2018 offense this week when wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald told them that he will return for another season in Arizona.
They also expect to have running back David Johnson back at 100 percent, which gives them a pair of strong pieces to build around offensively. They hope to have a third at quarterback, although it remains unknown who that quarterback might be at this point in the offseason.
During a Friday appearance on Arizona Sports 98.7, Keim said he thinks Fitzgerald and Johnson will help with recruiting a free agent because the team will be trying “to make sure that any potential franchise quarterback understands that this is a special place.” That said, Keim knows that free agency is just one of the areas the team has to explore in their search.
“Free agency comes first. So, to me, the way you have to address it is you have to have plan A, B, C and D,” Keim said. “A: addressing it with a free agent quarterback. B: a trade option. C: draft, or, all of the above. We will leave no stone unturned, as I’ve talked about. But at the end of the day, you can’t get caught on A because there are different factors that go into decisions by a free agent quarterback or in a trade process that you can’t put your finger on. We just have to be prepared to move on to number-two or number-three and we can’t get caught flat-footed if the first opportunity doesn’t pan out.”
The Cardinals aren’t the only team in this predicament and there are intriguing possibilities in each category, which should make the start of the new league year full of big developments on the quarterback front.