Bruce Arians: Carson Palmer ‘could play easily until he’s 40-42’

Going into his 14th NFL season at the age of 37, Carson Palmer’s future seems to be in question once again.

Many believe that the 2017 season will be his last, but according to Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, he can go much longer.

“Physically, he’s probably, body-wise like if he was 28 right now,” Arians told Tiki and Tierney on CBS Sports Network Thursday. “The sports science is unbelievable, you know with the stuff right now, nutrition, all of the training stuff, he could play easily till he’s like 40-42 probably — if he wants to.”

To keep Palmer healthy, Arians held him out during Wednesday practices beginning in November of last season.

During November and December of last season, when Palmer started sitting out Wednesdays, the three-time Pro Bowler threw for 2,165 yards, 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions in eight games.

While he’s not taking snaps on the practice fields, Palmer is still able to get his reps in.

“You can only throw so many balls during the week,” Arians said. “And with virtual reality he can get all of those reps without practicing now and Carson is huge on the virtual reality, so get every blitz drill, every snap so it saves the arm and he had a great finish to the season.”

While his future is up in the air, Arians feels, with the help of rest and technology, Palmer is ready for a bounce-back 2017 campaign.