Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie might be the fastest player on the Arizona Cardinals roster, but he can’t out-run reports and speculation that he’ll be traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for quarterback Kevin Kolb whenever a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.
Finding a starting quarterback is the Cardinals top priority this off-season, and team officials know they will pay a premium if that quarterback is acquired via trade.
Rodgers-Cromartie might be part of that premium.
With a lockout of NFL players in place, league rules forbid teams from discussing trades. Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said Wednesday that no one on the roster is untouchable.
“I don’t even know where that speculation started about trading or what we’re going to give up,” he said. “We don’t even know if they (the Eagles) are willing to do that. That’s something that everybody speculates on.”
Whisenhunt lumped the possibility of Rodgers-Cromartie being traded into the pile of rumors produced this off-season, including one a few months ago that the team already had reached a wink-wink agreement with quarterback Marc Bulger, a free agent.
“And yet yesterday (Tuesday) there was a report that he (Bulger) didn’t even want to come here, to Arizona,” Whisenhunt said. “So which one is it? Is it, we’ve already worked a deal under the table or is it he does not want to come here?”
The possibility of swapping Rodgers-Cromartie for Kolb, however, is more than just the work of minds idled by the lockout.
Those discussions will take place whenever the teams are able to discuss the trade, according to NFL sources.
Mike Jurecki of KGME-AM (910) reported earlier this week that the Cardinals would offer Rodgers-Cromartie as part of a deal to acquire Kolb.
The deal makes sense for both teams. The Eagles want to trade Kolb, who began last season as their starter. He suffered a concussion in the season opener and eventually lost the starting job to Michael Vick.
Kolb has one year remaining on his contract, so the Eagles are looking to trade him before he becomes a free agent.
The Eagles also are in need of a cornerback, and Rodgers-Cromartie is a talented one. A first-round pick in 2008, Rodgers-Cromartie made the Pro Bowl in 2009 and has shown he’s capable of making impact plays.
But he also has been inconsistent, is coming off a poor season and admits his attention span is not as long as it should be.
Coaches have continually emphasized to him the need to concentrate every day and spend more time studying schemes and opponents.
The Eagles are expected to ask for more than just Rodgers-Cromartie and they have leverage.
Seattle, one of the Cardinals’ NFC West opponents, reportedly also is interested in Kolb, and the two division rivals could get into a bidding war.
The Cardinals could be asked to give up a draft pick or two in addition to Rodgers-Cromartie.
There are other factors for the Cardinals to consider as they acquire a new quarterback.
Receiver Larry Fitzgerald is entering the last year of his contract, and improving the quarterback position is important to the Cardinals’ chances of re-signing him.
Also, any team trading for Kolb likely would want assurances they can sign him to a long-term deal.
Determing Kolb’s worth in both trade compensation and salary, however, will be tricky. A second-round pick in 2007, he has started seven games in his career, including five in 2010. The results were mixed.
But Kolb is young – he turns 27 in August – and the Cardinals aren’t the only team that rates him as the best quarterback available this off-season.
