Thanks in part to veteran leader Kurt Warner, the Arizona Cardinals rose from the ashes of being one of the worst franchises in the history of sports to become 2008 NFC Champions and their magical ride was supposed to end with a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. Obviously it didn’t happen, and in their latest ‘toon, the guys at Bang! Cartoons illustrate what they would have liked to have seen in ‘Zona’s locker room after the game.
If you liked that cartoon, click here to check out more Bang! Cartoons.
He will be back. And he likely will sign a new, two-year contract extension – possibly in the neighborhood of $18-20 million – to try and lead this once-woebegone franchise right back into glorious history.
Give it two weeks, three weeks tops.
That was the word circulating through the Warner camp before and following the Cardinals’ 27-23 loss to the Steelers in Tampa. And unless management completely drops the ball and short-changes the quarterback at the negotiating table, it’s appears to be a done deal.
Still, Warner would make no such public assumptions. He did say on Tuesday he wants to finish his career with the Cardinals.
“That’s my mindset,” he said. “If I’m going to keep playing, I don’t want to change teams.”
Outside of Anquan Boldin and Todd Haley’s possible departures, Arizona is the perfect place for Warner. He benefits playing in a dome eight times a year because his arm strength is fading fast, he knows the offense and he has a multitude of weapons at his disposal. At this point in his career, he can’t be the guy anymore but he can obviously be very effective in the right situation. And the Cardinals are definitely the right situation for him.
I really hope Warner comes back and plays, but based on what I’ve heard, he is really going to give retirement some thought. This is not a negotiation ploy, this is Warner being very serious about his life.
The thought of Warner retiring might come as a surprise to some considering he’s coming off one of his best seasons as a pro and just led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl. But he is 37 years old, is a major contributor off the field to various charitable groups and he already thought about retiring once this season when teammate Anquan Boldin was seriously hurt against the Jets in Week 4.
But it’s doubtful he walks away now. He’s a free agent and there’s no doubt the Cardinals will make a push to retain him in order to make another Super Bowl run. He might consider retiring or leaving Arizona if the team makes major changes this offseason, but that’s doubtful considering they’re coming off a Super Bowl appearance. If I were to make a guess at what happens with Warner, I would say he re-signs with the Cards for one-year and makes it his last.
