Three Free Agent Quarterbacks Cardinals Should Target

If the Arizona Cardinals are still looking to bring in quarterback competition, these three remaining free agents make the most sense.

Author:
Richie Bradshaw
Publish date:
Mar 21, 2023 2:31 PM EDT

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Arizona Cardinals

What is the Arizona Cardinals' plan for the 2023 season? With new direction under Jonathan Gannon and Monti Ossenfort, will this team look further ahead to 2024 to compete or do they want to make waves from day one?

Whatever their choice is, the team will be hindered by its quarterback play with the unfortunate injury to Kyler Murray late last season. It is likely he will miss time in 2023, but there is no clear timetable at this time.

Beyond him, the team has brought back David Blough and Colt McCoy remains under contract through the 2023 season. But are these guys going to be enough for the Cardinals to be competitive?

There are still some viable guys left in the current free agency pool for the Cardinals to fancy if they do value competing for 2023 and three, in particular, make a lot of sense for the team to target.

Fair warning, you won't find Carson Wentz or Matt Ryan on this list, as I believe both are too volatile at this point in their careers to bring in. While Wentz certainly feels like a nice lotto ticket, I can't justify shelling out the money the Cardinals would need to use to bring him in.

Joe Flacco

Flacco has had one of the most successful careers any quarterback has seen in the last 20 years. Although Flacco would be on his fourth different team since 2019, Flacco has shown that he still has a bit left in the tank to keep a team competitive.

The Jets were a very up-and-down team in 2022 thanks in large part to their quarterback play. Flacco's contributions were widely positive when he was on the field, however. If not for a likely trade for Aaron Rodgers, the Jets would have to consider bringing back the veteran.

For the Cardinals, Flacco is everything the team is looking for. A big, strong-armed quarterback who's been around a while and knows how to manage an offense with weapons. Flacco feels like the best backup quarterback remaining on the Free Agency market right now and the Cardinals would be wise to acquire his services.

Josh Johnson

Johnson has been with 13 different NFL teams across a career that started all the way back in 2008. Why not add Arizona to his laundry list of stops in the pros?

Beyond the cool story that is Johnson's career, the soon-to-be 37-year-old is everything you look for in a veteran quarterback with some decent upside as a runner. While he's certainly no Kyler Murray, he would fit into this offense's identity with a running quarterback better than the majority of what's left in the Free Agency pool.

Bringing in Johnson feels like a very realistic, but also very low-upside signing for the Cardinals. The fit makes sense, however, and his asking price will be significantly lower than most of his peers.

Teddy Bridgewater

The story of Bridgewater's NFL career isn't easily told. A former first-round pick, Bridgewater has bounced around the league and has largely proven to be quality with a low ceiling. In other words, he's a perfect backup.

In 2022, Bridgewater had arguably his worst season in two starts for an injured Tua Tagovailoa before breaking his finger during one of his starts. Bridgewater did have the highest yards per attempt (8.6) of his career though, and while he may not be an elite passer there are certainly worse options than him.

To me, Bridgewater presents the perfect package for a backup quarterback and someone who the Cardinals should take priority in bringing in. The team would be competitive with him under center without polluting the team's vision with Murray when he's healthy again. With solid weapons in place, Bridgewater feels like a slam dunk for a team that may still want to compete in 2023 without handicapping itself financially.