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Arizona Cardinals: Not drafting a quarterback

It soon may be time to stick a fork in Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer.

The 37-year-old has enjoyed a nice career, but his rate-based numbers plummeted in 2016, and it's beginning to look as though his Pro Bowl 2015 campaign was a late-career anomaly. After all, he threw 22 interceptions in 2013 and started just six games in 2014.

But the Cards didn't use any of their seven draft picks on quarterbacks, here's hoping no one in Glendale believes backups Drew Stanton or Blaine Gabbert are heirs apparent.

Arizona also lost several key defensive players in Calais Campbell, Tony Jefferson, D.J. Swearinger and Kevin Minter, but with Tyrann Mathieu, Patrick Peterson, Chandler Jones and 2016 first-round defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche on D and the dangerous David Johnson in the offensive backfield, this team has a chance to avoid a massive rebuild when Palmer fades or steps aside.

It would help, though, if the Cards had a quarterback or two waiting in the wings.

Los Angeles Rams: Hiring a millennial to be their new head coach

I am one, so I can say this: 31-year-old men are not fit to run professional football teams.

The Constitution states that you have to be 35 to become president of the United States. The NFL should adopt the same rule for head coaches. Maybe it's the dynamics that come along with a coach being younger than some of his players, or maybe it's just a lack of life and/or football experience. Regardless, it doesn't work.

It didn't work for a 31-year-old Lane Kiffin in Oakland or a 32-year-old Raheem Morris in Tampa. It didn't work for David Shula (32) in Cincinnati or Josh McDaniels (32) in Denver. Jon Gruden, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin had relatively recent success despite early starts, but they were all 34 when they were hired.

McVay was still 30! When the Rams originally left Los Angeles, the dude was nine years old.

San Francisco 49ers: Giving $11.5 million guaranteed to Malcolm Smith

With a new regime in place, the 49ers handed out several weird contracts this offseason. They might have overpaid 30-year-old receiver Pierre Garcon by giving him $47.5 million over five years, they signed two quarterbacks straight off the Chicago Bears depth chart and they made Kyle Juszczyk the highest-paid fullback in NFL history.

They could regret all of those moves, but there's also a lot of hope there.

The one unfathomable is the one they gave to Malcolm Smith, who continues to live off a decent 2013 season and the Super Bowl MVP award he won at the end of it.

PFF graded the 2011 seventh-round pick out of USC as one of the 10 worst inside linebackers in the game while in Oakland last season and one of the 20 worst (out of 60 qualifiers) the year before that. He hardly saw the field with Seattle in 2014, which means he peaked when he won MVP in Super Bowl XLVIII.

Smith does nothing but plug holes, but even in run defense, he's a replacement-level player at best. He can't rush the passer, he can't drop into coverage. He's just...meh.

But the Niners gave him a five-year, $26.5 million deal with $11.5 million guaranteed, making the soon-to-be 28-year-old the ninth-highest-paid inside linebacker in football.

It's baffling.

Seattle Seahawks: Continuing to neglect the offensive line

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is coming off the worst season of his career. It's no coincidence that Wilson wasn't healthy for much of that season, and that his offensive line ranked 30th league-wide at PFF when it came to pass-blocking efficiency. Per the same source, only Andrew Luck was pressured more frequently, while only Tyrod Taylor took more sacks.

Right tackle Garry Gilliam was terrible. Left tackle George Fant was worse. Left guard Mark Glowinski? Terrible. Right guard Germain Ifedi? Worse. But because the Seahawks stayed away from high-profile offensive linemen in free agency and the draft, several of those guys will likely be starting again in 2017.

Yes, they signed former No. 2 overall pick Luke Joeckel. But he was one of the worst left tackles in football in 2014 and 2015, was moved to guard in 2016 and then almost immediately shredded his left knee. He should no longer be viewed as a starter. Same for Oday Aboushi, who signed a cheap one-year deal for backup money but could wind up starting at right guard.

The Seahawks can only hope Joeckel suddenly wakes up or Aboushi breaks out. They can only hope Ifedi makes major strides in his sophomore season. They can only hope Fant or Glowinski becomes something other than terrible, or that rookie second-rounder Ethan Pocic earns a starting job right away.

Otherwise, Wilson and that offense could be in trouble yet again.