Other than Kolb, Hasselbeck is best option for Cards
Jun 8, 2011, 10:44 PM | Updated: 11:53 pm
Just a month ago it was thought the Arizona Cardinals could cross veteran Matt Hasselbeck of their potential quarterback list. That all changed in the late Tuesday when Sports Illustrated’s Peter King tweeted out the signal caller might be interested in relocating to the Valley.
It’s a move a certain Cardinals sideline reporter and local radio host would be in favor of.
“I haven’t been buying this stuff out of Seattle for a long time,” Paul Calvisi said Wednesday on Sports 620 KTAR’s Sports Interactive. “If a deal is going to get done why isn’t it already done? He’s been there ten-years. Everything was there to get the deal done before the work stoppage. It didn’t get done. There’s obviously a divide, if nothing about the dollars. He is still a great fit for Ken Whisenhunt’s team.”
Calvisi likes the idea of adding the veteran quarterback, but acknowledges that Hasselbeck isn’t the long term answer. That doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the better options available though.
“Yes, he’d be a bridge quarterback but we all saw what he did in that playoff game,” he said. “He still has something left. Get him out of the elements and into the dome and the controlled environment over there in University of Phoenix Stadium. Other than Kevin Kolb and a guy who can truly be a franchise future quarterback, he’s the best other option. I think a lot better Orton. A lot better than any other guy out there other than maybe Carson Palmer, but that’s not realistic.”
If the Cardinals hope to sign the veteran QB they’ll probably have to give him a two-year deal. Rumors are Seattle’s unwillingness to add a second year to their offer before the lockout is what stalled contract talks.
Hasselbeck won’t have to go far if he wants to talk to someone who has experience with the Cardinals and Whisenhunt’s system. His brother Tim spent a brief time with the organization and thinks Matt would be a good fit.
At almost 36-years-old Hasselbeck would be a gamble for the quarterback-desperate Cardinals, but so was Kurt Warner when Whisenhunt gave him the starting spot and we all know how that worked out.
