starter isn't considered vast.

As Palmer creeps toward retirement – "At this point in my career, it's a one-year-at-a-time-type of deal," Palmer said last week after announcing he was returning for 2017 – the need to find that next guy moves toward critical status.

Keim has been around this before. He wasn't GM, but he was in the front office when Kurt Warner retired after the 2009 season. The Cardinals were hopeful they had the QB of the future in Matt Leinart, but by then, there were already concerns. Leinart didn't even make it to the opening day roster.

Instead, there were stopgaps (Derek Anderson), late draft picks (John Skelton) and a big trade (Kevin Kolb). None worked, leaving the Cards to struggle until there was a GM and coaching change, and Palmer came in another important trade (although the Palmer price was significantly less than Kolb).

Taking a quarterback in the draft makes the most sense. Trading for a QB now is hard to justify for a team hoping to make a playoff run. A thin free agent class also would have to know Palmer – and Stanton, for that matter – remain in place.

But the post-Palmer time is coming.

"You start getting old like me, you start getting grey hair, your body starts telling you no," Palmer said. "At some point it will."