Matt Barkley finds himself wearing a different color scheme yet remains as a bird. The Arizona Cardinals traded for the former fourth-round pick out of the University of Southern California for a conditional seventh-round pick to fill out the third string quarterback slot that the team wishes to solidify with a more seasoned player.
The move potentially ends the Cardinals careers of Logan Thomas and Phillip Sims with Sims already tweeting earlier in the week he had been cut and Thomas being cut on Saturday for the 53-man roster deadline pending waivers. Sims was a backup for a majority of his college career including his time on the 2011 BCS champion Alabama Crimson Tide before transferring to Virginia and finally Winston-Salem State. Coming to the Cardinals as an undrafted player Sims was looking to compete with Thomas, who filled in sporadically for the team during the injury riddled quarterback carousel that was the 2014 campaign, for the third string spot behind Drew Stanton and returning starter Carson Palmer. The team and coach Bruce Arians hold out hope that some of the players they cut will clear waivers so they can be added to the practice squad with Thomas likely the favorite to earn that distinction.
On paper, it would be assumed that Barkley would bring in experience but during his three-year career the former Trojan has been little more than a relief pitcher, coming for injuries or ineffective play by starters during his time as an Eagle. In as many years Barkley has come onto the field for Philadelphia as the signal caller three times, garnering a total of 300 yards with a 30-49 completion to attempts ratio. He has yet to throw a regular season touchdown in his career, but has totaled four interceptions.
For those who believe a change in scenery does a player good, that remains to be seen for Barkley. During his time at USC, Barkley was 2-2 in the state of Arizona, losing once to both ASU and U of A during his junior and senior years respectively. And some Cardinal fans may receive grim flashbacks to the last time the team traded for a Philadelphia quarterback during the Kevin Kolb era that saw multiple injuries and Kolb’s second major concussion, which would later end with him retiring due to Post-concussion syndrome later down the road.
Barkley will not be shooting for the starting job like Kolb did however. Instead he will be viewed as a security blanket. The Cardinals though have the opportunity to get rid of Barkley without losing anything in the first place. If Barkley is on the roster after six weeks, the Eagles get the seventh-round pick. If not, the Eagles get nothing. It will be interesting to see what the depth chart looks like for the Cardinals as opening week against the Saints at home is slowly creeping upon University of Phoenix Stadium.