‘Of course’ Drew Stanton would re-sign with Arizona Cardinals as backup QB

When Drew Stanton signed with the Arizona Cardinals in March 2013, he walked into a situation where it looked like he would be the team’s starting quarterback.

Just a few weeks later, though, the team traded for Carson Palmer, sending Stanton back to the bench.

The veteran remained there the entirety of his first season with the team, and things were not expected to change in his second.

However, Palmer was sidelined due to various injuries, leading to Stanton not only playing for the first time in four seasons, but playing a lot.

In all, Stanton appeared in nine games — starting eight — completing 55 percent of his passes for 1,711 yards and seven touchdowns with five interceptions. The Cardinals were 6-3 in games he played, and 5-3 in games he started.

He showed he could be a starter, even if there are no designs for that to be the case in Arizona.

Set to enter the final season of his contract, Stanton told Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Wednesday he would be open to returning to Arizona, even in a backup role.

“Of course,” he said. “Talking with my agent, I’ve had many talks with him about it. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. When you find a good organization that you really like, there’s something to be said for that.”

Stanton, 31, mentioned that when a player starts chasing starting jobs there’s a chance things don’t end up working out too well.

“You find yourself in some difficult situations when there aren’t good pieces around you,” he said. “There’s amazing pieces here in place.”

With that in mind Stanton, who has appeared in 21 career games and thrown 12 touchdown passes, said every year is unique and he takes things one season at a time.

“I went four years without touching the field and then last year I was fortunate to play a little bit and try to help this team win football games, and it felt great to be able to do that,” he said. “But at the same time, you balance all those things and you weigh all those options.

“And my family will play into that as well, my son’s getting older, all of those things.”

So while the allure to be a starter may still exist, it will not be the determining factor on where Stanton goes when his contract expires.

Because while he would like to be be a team’s number one quarterback instead of a backup, Stanton understands a move like that does not always work out for the best.

“I think it is all based on the situation you find yourself in,” he said, noting that sometimes a team just needs a quarterback while other times the organization has undergone a complete makeover. “So I think you can evaluate everything in that sense, but at the same time this is a pretty good situation here.

“There’s a lot of familiarity with me and this is a place that has really opened up a lot of doors for me, and I will take all that into consideration.”