Starting QBs show money doesn’t matter
Sep 5, 2012, 7:43 PM | Updated: 10:27 pm
When the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals meet in Glendale for their Week 1 matchup, both teams will have their high-priced quarterbacks sitting on the bench watching from the sideline.
Anyone who figured that either team would end their quarterback controversy by choosing the player with the higher salary was mistaken.
Starters Russel Wilson and John Skelton cannot match that financial situations of backups Matt Flynn and Kevin Kolb, but come week one none of that will matter
After the Seahawks signed free agent Matt Flynn to a three-year $26 million contract, with $10 million guaranteed, many took this as a sign he would be competing for the starting position with veteran quarterback Tavaris Jackson. This was before Seattle’s third round pick, Wilson, completed 63.5 percent of his passes during the preseason and finished with five touchdowns and one interception.
Similar to the Seahawks situation, the Cardinals traded cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft pick to Philadelphia last year for Kevin Kolb, who ended the season 2-6 after signing a five-year extension worth $63 million, with $21 million guaranteed. Kolb was expected to be the Cardinals quarterback of the future but it was Skelton, who is 5-0 as a starter at home and has won six of his last eight appearances, emerged as the more reliable starter but earned the starting job in training camp.
Arizona and Seattle split two games last season, with the home team winning each time. The second game saw Skelton lead the Cardinals to an overtime victory as he threw for 271 yards and a touchdown in the last game of the year.
The Cardinals are winning the lifetime series 14-12.
