Following the retirement of veteran quarterback Carson Palmer, the Arizona Cardinals began their search for his successor. The consensus was the team would find Palmer's long-term successor in the NFL Draft, and they seemingly have in the form of rookie Josh Rosen.
However, the Cardinals also signed Sam Bradford formerly of the Minnesota Vikings. Despite going through another injury-riddled season last year, Arizona decided to ink Bradford to a surprisingly lucrative one-year deal at $20 million for the 2018 NFL season. This was a good indication he'd be the starter Week 1, and now that seems to be the case as head coach Steve Wilks made clear, via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk.
Steve Wilks said during the offseason that it wasn’t a long shot that Josh Rosen would start the season opener. But the starting job, Wilks said Saturday, is veteran Sam Bradford‘s to lose.
The real question moving forward for the Cardinals is whether Bradford's knees will hold up. Bradford has dealt with injuries throughout his entire career leading all the way back to his time at Oklahoma. Last year, it appeared his playing days might have come to an end as he played only two games before having to hand the team over to Case Keenum who ended up revitalizing his career in Minnesota before signing a lucrative deal with the Denver Broncos this offseason.
At this point, it is Bradford's team in Arizona with Rosen and veteran Mike Glennon battling it out for the second spot on the depth chart, via Williams.
Wilks labeled the backup job as an open competition between Rosen and Mike Glennon, according to multiple reports.
Although Bradford is the starter moving forward, that could quickly change in the coming weeks if his injury issues become a problem once again. Rosen has impressed the coaching staff in Arizona and may have given them confidence that if Bradford proves unreliable, they can switch gears by playing the rookie under center.
Follow Us
Subscribe