Report: Cardinals still want Kolb deal

Kevin Kolb has returned to Texas after stopping in last week and throwing with his teammates during an informal workout, but Kolb's future once the lockout ends has remained a major topic of conversation.

Highly respected Arizona Republic beat writer Kent Sommers writes on his blog that "whenever they are able, the Cardinals will pursue a trade for Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb." Kyle Orton and Marc Bulger seem to be fallback options if they cannot get Kolb.

The Cardinals have been viewed as a frontrunner for Kolb's services, even fueling what turned out to be an unfounded report that the Eagles and Cardinals talked about a trade during the brief window that the lockout was lifted around the NFL draft.

This comes on the heels of another report from Scout.com that said some Arizona coaches had reservations about whether Kolb would fit into the Cardinals' system.

"They note that Kolb ... has thrown more interceptions (14) than touchdown passes (11) in his brief playing time.

They wonder about his decision-making. But mostly the Cardinals' brass wonders if Kolb is the right fit for coach Ken Whisenhunt's offense.

Kolb averaged only 6.46 per pass attempt in his five starts in 2010. Until last season, when the Cardinals were forced to play quarterback roulette and started a pair of rookies at various times, the Arizona passing game averaged over 7.0 yards per attempt under Whisenhunt. The number dropped precipitously to a paltry 5.81 yards in 2010, but, again, there were mitigating circumstances.

In theory at least, the Arizona passing design is more vertical than that in Philadelphia, takes some pages from the Mike Martz passing game and expects quarterbacks to drive the ball into the intermediate and deep windows with accuracy."

All of this is, of course, just speculation until the lockout is lifted and things can start actually happening.