Carson Palmer’s presence quells all talk of QB controversy

For the first time since the end of the 2009 NFL season, the Arizona Cardinals don’t have what could be construed as a quarterback controversy.

“I’m here to introduce our starting quarterback and put it to bed,” Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said Tuesday. “And I’m really excited about it.”

His starting quarterback is Carson Palmer, whom the Cardinals acquired from the Oakland Raiders earlier Tuesday. Palmer was introduced to the Phoenix media at the Cardinals training facility in Tempe.

The 33-year-old quarterback is more than happy to continue his career in Arizona.

“This team and this organization is for real about winning,” Palmer said. “And I’m excited to be a part of that.”

Palmer comes to Arizona after spending the last two seasons in Oakland — two seasons that were forgettable.

“I was presented with a contract (in Oakland) and I was advised not to sign that contract with no securities and no guarantees, my agent told me that he would never have me sign that contract and that opportunity led me here to Coach Arians,” he said. “I’m extremely excited about this opportunity.”

Palmer did have a good statistical season in 2012, throwing for over 4,000 yards for the third time in his career while racking up 22 touchdown passes. In Arizona, he sees the opportunity to improve on those numbers.

“I’ve had the opportunity to watch Coach Arians from the sideline and watch his offenses go to work and obviously watch a lot of film on what his offenses have done,” Palmer said. “With a pretty good receiver that we already have and some of the very young talented guys we have offensively, and obviously a very stout and stingy defense, it’s an honor and I’m excited.”

Wait, rewind a minute. Did Palmer refer to Larry Fitzgerald as a “pretty good receiver?” Don’t worry, the QB elaborated on the future relationship with the six-time Pro Bowler.

“Obviously everybody knows about Larry’s talent and from the last 24 hours of this going down, just hearing people talk about his work ethic and his leadership are things that excite me the most,” Palmer said. “To be a quarterback coming in to a team where the wide receiver runs things and is the guy that everybody pretty much looks up to is a very unique situation to come into.”

With Palmer in the fold, along with free agent acquisition Drew Stanton and holdovers Brian Hoyer and Ryan Lindley in the fold, Arians is bullish on his quarterbacks moving toward the 2013 season.

“I think our quarterback room right now is as strong as anybody’s in the National Football League,” Arians said. “That’s what we set out to do as an organization — strengthen that position because we knew what we had around it.

“To add Carson to this football team, I think was a huge step.”

Follow @Vincemarotta