In an interview with Sirius XM, Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians revealed that he phoned the San Francisco 49ers after taking over in 2013 in an attempt to trade for quarterback Alex Smith, according to Alex Marves of Fox Sports.
Despite the interest, a quarterback deal between the NFC West rivals was never reached.
As a result, the Cardinals ended up trading conditional draft picks to the Oakland Raiders for quarterback Carson Palmer. In 22 games with the Cardinals, Palmer has thrown for for 5,900 yards with 35 touchdowns against 25 interceptions while completing 63.1 percent of his passes. He is 16-6 as Arizona's starter, and signed a $50 million extension with the team in early November. Unfortunately, Palmer tore his ACL just days after agreeing to the new deal.
It's interesting to wonder what life would have been like for Cardinals fans had the team acquired Smith. While Smith's passer rating of 90.1 over the last two seasons ranks right about mid-tier, his regular season record of 18-9 in that same span is quite impressive. Smith has successfully transitioned from draft bust to stabilizing quarterback over the last four seasons. He is also four years younger than Palmer, perhaps providing some more long-term security.
Since the start of the 2013 season, Smith has thrown for 5,677 yards with 38 touchdowns against 12 interceptions while completing 62.9 percent of his passes in five more games than Palmer.
It's fun to play the "What If" game in the NFL. Had the Cardinals acquired Smith, perhaps Palmer would still be languishing in Oakland right now. Maybe the Kansas City Chiefs would have drafted Derek Carr. Who knows?
