Cardinals should admit their mistake and cut Chester Taylor

Sometimes you need to cut your losses while you can. Admit your mistake and move on. Such is the case for the Arizona Cardinals and running back Chester Taylor.

It was a mistake from the day they signed him and it will continue to be a mistake as long as they keep him on the roster, and this isn’t second guessing after Taylor’s awful performance in his first significant action in an Arizona uniform.

His career is over, has been for a few years now he just doesn’t know it.

Taylor averaged a pathetic 2.4 yards per carry with Chicago last year. In the last four years Taylor’s numbers have fallen as fast as the Red Sox wild card lead in September, from 5.4 in 2007, to 4.0 in 2008, 3.6 in 2009 and 2.4 last year.

Against the Seahawks Taylor had nine carries for 20 yards before getting pulled in the middle of a drive for an undrafted free agent named Alfonso Smith.

This after Taylor had four carries for a total of four yards on a drive that resulted in a field goal.

You can say he has only been in the offense for a week, but he has been in the NFL for 10 years. It’s not the system, it’s his legs. The Cardinals would have beaten Seattle if they had a better option to replace the injured Beanie Wells.

Now I do understand that the Cardinals were desperate to bring in a running back after trading Tim Hightower and having their second-round draft pick Ryan Williams go down for the season with a patella tendon injury, but did they have to sign a 32-year-old retread who doesn’t have any tread left on those tires?

Former Sun Devil Dimitri Nance, who had a good camp in Green Bay, was available and still is. Another option is Steve Slaton, who was released by the Houston Texans Tuesday. Regardless, I would have rather seen the Cardinals go with a younger player because no position in this league wears down as fast as running back.

Now the Cardinals will likely give Taylor another chance, but they don’t need to. They know what they have in him.

Just look at the NL West Champion Arizona Diamondbacks. They signed or traded for Melvin Mora, Aaron Heilman, Juan Miranda and Russell Branyan, and when they didn’t produce they cut their losses buy cutting the players. No sense holding onto unproductive players to save face. You have to strive to be better.

There has to be a better player available right now than Chester Taylor. It’s only been a couple games, but I’ve seen enough. Cardinals need to give Taylor his pink slip.

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