Tempe, AZ – Carson Palmer is going from the Black Hole to the Arizona desert.
The Cardinals swung a deal for the veteran quarterback, sending the second of their two sixth-round picks in this year's draft and a conditional pick in 2014 to the Oakland Raiders, who will also send their seventh-round pick in this year's draft to Arizona as part of the transaction.
In addition, Palmer has agreed to a new contract with the Cardinals, terms of which were not disclosed. The Arizona Republic reported the new two-year deal to be worth $16 million with $10 million guaranteed.
Palmer was set to earn $13 million next season and reportedly refused to take a pay cut with the Raiders, then became expendable when Oakland acquired quarterback Matt Flynn from Seattle on Monday.
The 33-year-old Palmer spent the past two seasons in Oakland after the Raiders acquired him from Cincinnati for a pair of high picks, including a 2012 first- round choice, in October 2011.
In 15 games last season, Palmer completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 4,018 yards with 22 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He started 24 games for the Raiders and threw for 6,771 yards with 35 touchdowns and 30 picks, posting an 8-16 mark as the club's starter.
Palmer immediately becomes the starter for a Cardinals team that went through three starting quarterbacks in 2012. Kevin Kolb, John Skelton and Ryan Lindley all started games last year. Kolb was released last month and Skelton was let go on Monday.
A two-time Pro Bowl selection, Palmer has connected on 62.5 percent of his throws for 29,465 yards with 189 touchdowns and 130 interceptions since becoming a full-time starter in Cincinnati for the 2004 season.
Palmer won the 2002 Heisman Trophy with Southern California and was selected by the Bengals with the first overall choice of the 2003 draft. He did not play in his first NFL season.
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