Bradford will be joining an offense changing its stripes in Arizona, given that the downfield attack of Bruce Arians will presumably be replaced by a shorter scheme under new offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. McCoy helped rebuild
Philip Rivers' career by making a similar scheme change, and the Cardinals do have a series of useful underneath targets in
Larry Fitzgerald and
David Johnson. He also has an offensive line which might remind Bradford of those 2016 Vikings.
Ideally, though, you don't want to pay a guy who is going to throw the ball 6.5 yards down the field every play $20 million per year, which is what the Cardinals are doing with this two-year, $40 million contract. It seems incredible that
Drew Brees is making only $5 million per year more than Bradford, but here we are. Arizona will be right up against the salary cap before having addressed its offensive line or signing Johnson and
Markus Golden to extensions, which doesn't seem ideal.
The most likely scenario is that the Cardinals draft a quarterback in the first round and use Bradford as a bridge quarterback to stay competitive while they develop him. Maybe that works out, but it's also fair to wonder whether they would have been better off signing someone like
Josh McCown for far less and using the savings to help out the line. Arizona is paying Bradford as if he provides a level of security when few quarterbacks in the league are less certain.