Arizona Cardinals: Carson Palmer a Hall of Fame quarterback?

Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians stated he thinks quarterback Carson Palmer is a Super Bowl ring a way from Hall of Fame consideration. But is he?

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer has had a career of peaks and valleys during his 14 seasons in the NFL. He was thought of as a top five quarterback early in his career with the Cincinnati Bengals. Carson Palmer made the Pro Bowl twice in his first four seasons.

But then Palmer began to struggle with injuries and the Bengals as a team became inconsistent. In 2011, Palmer’s relationship with the Bengals soured. Palmer made demands for a trade or he would retire rather than play in Cincinnati.

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In 2011 the Bengals drafted quarterback Andy Dalton with a second round pick for when things didn’t work out with Carson Palmer. When Palmer went into semi-retirement, Dalton became the starting quarterback in his absence. Dalton played well as a rookie and Palmer became expendable.

Carson Palmer was traded mid-season to the Oakland Raiders for a first and second round draft pick. However, Palmer only lasted two seasons with the Raiders before he got traded again to the Arizona Cardinals for a sixth round draft pick.

Under the guidance of head coach Bruce Arians, Carson Palmer’s career took off again with the Arizona Cardinals. Leading them to three-straight winning seasons from 2013-2015.

Palmer had the best season of his career in 2015, passing for 4,671 yards with 35 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. The Arizona Cardinals finished with a 13-3 record and but lost the NFC Championship game to the Carolina Panthers. The Arizona Cardinals missed the playoffs in 2016.

Is Carson Palmer a Hall of Famer?

Here’s what Bruce Arians said about Carson Palmer and the Hall of Fame:

"“Well, statistically, if you put a ring on his finger, he probably has a chance to be talked about for the Hall of Fame because of his statistics.”"

Palmer certainly has the statistics of a Hall of Fame quarterback. Passing for 44,269 yards, 285 TD’s against 180 interceptions. He has a career quarterback rating of 88 over his fourteen seasons.

However, Carson Palmer is only 89-84-1 as starting quarterback. It’s not a bad record but it shows that Palmer hasn’t been a winner consistently. Like I said he’s had a career of peaks and valleys.

Right now, Carson Palmer is not a Hall of Fame quarterback. However, Bruce Arians may be right, a Super Bowl ring would make his resume’ look a lot better but even then it wouldn’t be a lock.

A hindrance to Palmer is that there are so many great quarterbacks who played during his era. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, and Eli Manning are all Super Bowl winning quarterbacks who would go into the Hall of Fame before Carson Palmer would.

But one thing in Palmer’s favor is that he’s still playing, so the final chapter of his football story has yet to be written. However, I think the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl this year.

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If Carson Palmer can lead the Arizona Cardinals to a Super Bowl win over a team of that caliber, then yes, Carson Palmer would put himself into the Hall of Fame discussion. But first things first, the Arizona Cardinals need to find a way to win the NFC West and that will be a tough task itself.