Marcus Mariota Cut; Possible Cardinals Quarterback Target?

The Arizona Cardinals will need a quarterback while Kyler Murray recovers from ACL surgery. A possible target just entered the arena.

The Arizona Cardinals will need to answer a few more questions this offseason, but perhaps the biggest answer just arrived. 

The return of Kyler Murray is unknown at this point, yet the Cardinals may be due for an upgrade at the quarterback position after Colt McCoy had an unspecified injury surgically repaired in the offseason. Though McCoy (36-years-old) is under contract for next season, there's some who believe Arizona will look to the free agent market to grab a more suitable replacement during Murray's absence. 

The Atlanta Falcons reportedly released quarterback Marcus Mariota this morning. The 29-year-old mobile quarterback could be a nice stop gap to run a new Cardinals offense under OC Drew Petzing. 

Mariota went 5-8 for the Falcons last season before ultimately being benched for rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder. Mariota completed 61.3% of his passes for 2,219 yards with 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also had a career-high in rushing attempts (85) and rushing yards (438) with four touchdowns coming on the ground.

He first entered the league as the No. 2 overall pick in 2015 and previously spent time with the Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders before heading to Atlanta. 

Mariota's deal was a two-year, $18.75 million contract, so a similar deal would be quite the investment into a position that already has Murray on a $16 million cap hit. But such is life for a "luxury" backup quarterback who adds a bit more dynamic with his legs, something Murray is also familiar with. 

However, if the Cardinals feel like they can potentially compete in 2023, the added money to the position may be worth it. 

Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon was asked if he believed 2023 was a rebuild year and responded with the following: 

“I’m never going to put a ceiling or a floor on any roster or any player that is under my watch. I know that there is work to be done, but I like the core pieces here. Through Monti and I—and Michael— we’re going to turn over every stone that we can to help improve the roster," Gannon said. 

"Funny little story, we were in the interview on Monday and Monti asked me a question. I asked him the question right back, ‘Well what do you think about that Monti?’ He says, ‘Well, I want to hear what you say first.’ I told him, and he disagreed a little bit and I said, ‘Well, I understand your point, but here’s my point.’ I think that we’re going to have a really good relationship. Here’s where we did not disagree on is we’re going to do everything that we can to put the best people out there to win games. 

"There’s different ways to do that and we will explore all those options, but that’s what we’re going to do. To summarize that, I’m excited about the people that we have here, and I’m excited about who we need to add.” 

A quarterback like Mariota could indeed be part of those plans. 

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