Quarterback carousel: Does NFL’s QB movement affect Cardinals?

A wingdings-like message from Cam Newton calling out his own employer on Instagram wasn’t even the biggest quarterback news of the day in the NFL.

Tom Brady said on Tuesday morning that his time with the New England Patriots was over as he posted on social media, in part, “my football journey will continue elsewhere.”

The Panthers announced they gave Cam Newton permission to seek a trade and then, per reports, were subsequently expected to sign quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

Newton responded in the comments:

“Stop with the word play,” Newton wrote in his unusual, on-brand typeface. “There is no dodging this one; I love the Panthers to death and will always love you guys!! Please do not try and play me, or manipulate the narrative and act like I wanted this; you forced me into this!!”

So how might this all affect the Cardinals?

For one, the Cardinals have the eighth pick in the draft. The Bengals, Dolphins, Chargers and Panthers are all teams in front of Arizona in the draft order who are in need of a QB on Tuesday. Bridgewater to Carolina and a potential signing of Brady by the Chargers would likely ensure that one of the top three signal-calling prospects will still be on the board when Arizona is on the clock.

Joe Burrow going first overall to Cincinnati and Tua Tagovailoa going to the Dolphins fifth overall would leave Oregon’s Justin Herbert or Utah State’s Jordan Love, among others.

Perhaps that would prompt another quarterback-needy team to trade up with Arizona. The Cardinals’ needs, apart from a starting right tackle and linebackers both inside and out, are largely depth-based after trading for wideout DeAndre Hopkins and reportedly signing defensive tackle Jordan Phillips. That might mean the Cardinals can afford to parlay the eighth pick into multiple picks thereafter.

There’s also the question mark that is Brett Hundley, who was the backup to Kyler Murray in 2019 and remains without a contract for 2020. Bringing him back would seem logical, but it may depend on how the quarterback carousel around the NFL influences teams’ willingness to spend on a depth option.

The Cardinals’ cap situation will force them to be judicious with how they spend the rest of this offseason.

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