This was supposed to be the last hurrah. One last shot at glory.
It was supposed to be the year in which the Cardinals proved the 2016 season was just a blip on the radar, a glitch in the matrix. They would rebound from their disappointing 7-8-1 finish and look more like the club that went 13-3 in 2015 and reached the NFC Championship game.
That all might be gone now that the franchise's star player, David Johnson, is set to have surgery on a dislocated wrist, a development that could put him on the shelf for two-to-three months.
The season already looks far too much like 2016 than 2015. Like last season, Arizona suffered a disheartening Week 1 loss. Now they'll have to navigate the majority of the season without their rudder.
David Johnson gained 36 percent of Cardinals yds last year and scored 39 percent of their TDs.
— Kent Somers (@kentsomers) September 12, 2017
It's shaping up to be a sad end to the careers of two stalwarts.
The Cardinals' offseason was dominated by questions about the futures of quarterback Carson Palmer and receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Palmer, 37, dialed back his training camp routine in order to suit up for a 15th season. Fitzgerald, 34, said he would return for his 14th campaign, but to play for a competitive team.
They both came back to chase the ever-elusive Lombardi Trophy. However, in the first game of the season, Palmer went 27-for-48 with three interceptions and one touchdown pass. It brought back painful memories of his four-interception performance in Week 3 of last year.
Palmer rebounded from that game for a steady close to the 2016 season, but without Johnson, the team's second-leading receiver a year ago, it'll be even harder to pull him back from the precipice of retirement.
Both Palmer and Fitzgerald have one year remaining on their contracts. They each contain potential outs after the 2017 season, however, as Arizona would take on a dead cap number of just $6.625 million to unload Palmer's scheduled hit of $30 million and only $4.85 million for Fitzgerald's $20 million.
Even if the pair opts against retirement again next year, letting them go could hasten a rebuild in Arizona.
Despite the injury, Johnson remains the Cardinals' centerpiece. Going forward, the team will build around him and fellow 25-year-old Tyrann Mathieu.
If the 2017 season goes off course without Johnson, it won't be long before the Cardinals will have to brave life without Palmer and Fitzgerald.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
