Cardinals complete deal for Carson Palmer

Mike Garafolo, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

The Oakland Raiders finalized an agreement Tuesday to send Carson Palmer to the Arizona Cardinals.

Arizona is sending the second of its two sixth-round selections this year (176 overall) to Oakland in exchange for its seventh-round pick (219 overall). In addition, Arizona has agreed to terms with Palmer on a new contract.

It's a two-year deal worth $16 million with $10 million guaranteed. Palmer can earn an additional $4 million through incentives.

The Raiders acquired quarterback Matt Flynn from the Seattle Seahawks on Monday for undisclosed draft picks.

USA TODAY Sports reported Friday that Palmer turned down a paycut from $13 million to $10 million to remain with the Raiders, an indication of how badly he wanted out of Oakland. He was willing to consider a backup role for a contending team. The San Francisco 49ers were his top choice for such a role, though the Cardinals' willingness to pay him starter money surely helped facilitate this trade.

Palmer wanted to leave the Cincinnati Bengals after the 2010 season and got his wish after being shipped to Oakland midway through the 2011 season after he failed to report to Cincinnati. The Bengals received a 2012 first-round pick last year and a second-rounder that will be used in next month's draft.

The Raiders went 8-16 in Palmer's 24 starts in Oakland. He wasn't able to keep them in playoff contention in 2011 after essentially coming off the couch to take over for injured Jason Campbell. Still, Palmer threw for more than 4,000 yards last season for the first time since 2007 and completed over 60% of his passes for the eighth time in his 10-year career (he didn't play as a rookie for the Bengals in 2003).

The Cardinals cut Kevin Kolb, who signed with the Buffalo Bills over the weekend, on March 15 and expressed confidence in Brian Hoyer and recently signed Drew Stanton. But given the chance to pick up a quarterback who was a No. 1 overall draft pick and allow him to throw to Larry Fitzgerald, they jumped at the opportunity.

Arizona began preparing its new depth chart Monday afternoon by cutting quarterback John Skelton, who went 8-9 in 17 starts over the past three seasons.

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