Tue, Apr 2, 2013 at 2:32pm

'ZONA PICKS UP QB PALMER FROM RAIDERS

The Arizona Cardinals acquired quarterback Carson Palmer and a seventh-round draft pick in 2013 from the Oakland Raiders for a sixth-round draft pick in 2013 and a conditional seventh-round pick in 2014.

What does it give the Arizona Cardinals
After recently giving up on {P=9353 Kevin Kolb} as their starting QB, the Cards have shifted gears and picked up the much-more-proven Palmer here from Oakland. While Palmer isn't quite the league elite he was, say, six or seven years ago, he is still an above-average signal-caller who can lead an NFL team to wins. Arizona has been looking for a steady veteran hand since {P=2971 Kurt Warner} retired in 2010, and Palmer can be that guy. This is a solid move by an underachieving franchise looking to bounce back quickly, and they have already inked Palmer to a new two-year deal.

What does it give the Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders clearly wanted a more affordable option under center than Palmer, and they got one by recently acquiring {P Matt Flynn} from the Seahawks. That deal cleared the way for this one, and with both trades completed, Oakland saves a lot of cash without losing too much at the quarterback position. The draft pick upgrade is fairly insignificant (since neither selection is early enough in the draft to likely yield a star player for Oakland), but at least the Raiders move on from Palmer and the tension his contract situation was creating.

Fantasy impact
Palmer gets a slight boost in fantasy appeal with the move to Arizona, because he'll be throwing the ball to one of the NFL's top talents at wideout ( {P Larry Fitzgerald} ). This deal equally improves Fitzgerald's fantasy stock, and also likely helps the fortunes of tailback {P Rashard Mendenhall} and tight end {P Rob Housler}. Palmer's arrival clearly hurts the fantasy chances of QB {P Ryan Lindley} (since he again becomes a backup). In a related move, big sometimes-starter {P=10008 John Skelton} has been released. On the Oakland side it doesn't much affect anyone other than Flynn, who, as expected, now gets a chance to be Oakland's No. 1 QB (assuming he can hold off athletic {P=14382 Terrell Pryor} for the gig).