Cardinals starting from scratch in the desert

The Arizona Cardinals haven’t won a title since 1947, all the way back when they still played in their original home of Chicago. Since that moment in time, the Cardinals have been crisscrossing the country, from St. Louis to Arizona, but the chase for another championship remains.

In 2015, it seemed they were close. After a miracle win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional round, the Cardinals took on the Carolina Panthers for the right to play in Super Bowl 50. Both they and quarterback Carson Palmer were thoroughly trounced, and nothing has been the same since.

Now, with the retirement of Palmer and former head coach Bruce Arians, a new day has dawned in the desert. The Arizona Cardinals are going with Sam Bradford under center. They will be paying him and his beleaguered body $20 million for one season. His backup? Mike Glennon, who sputtered in epic fashion in his one month as a starter last year with the Chicago Bears.

Now, new head coach Steve Wilks is taking over for his first crack at a top job. As a result, things are about to look much different in Glendale. The Cardinals are picking 15th-overall in the upcoming NFL Draft, and the needs are abundant. Should a top quarterback fall to them, it’s hard to imagine general manager Steve Keim passing on the opportunity. If one doesn’t, the team could conceivably go with offensive line help, cornerback, safety, interior defensive lineman or tight end.

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It won’t be easy to build back up for Keim. He was once close and now finds himself at the bottom of the proverbial hill. Arizona has some pieces to work with in Chandler Jones, Patrick Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson. Although that’s a small core in a conference loaded with giants.

If Keim can, he should attempt to trade up and finally find the franchise quarterback that has been eluding this franchise since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Kurt Warner was great, but he was also in the final act of his career. Neil Lomax and Jim Hart were varying degrees of good, but neither of them ever won a single playoff game in their careers.

If the quarterback is right, the rest of the team typically follows in today’s NFL. Last year, the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs went past the  Arizona Cardinals — and barely so — to draft Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. If those two pan out for their respective teams, the Chiefs and Texans will be good for the next decade and change.

Arizona won’t compete for anything special this year, but it has a chance to alter its course for the better in two weeks.