It felt clear once the regular season ended the Cardinals would be on the hunt for a backup quarterback. Chris Streveler struggled in his one chance to replace Kyler Murray -- albeit against arguably the best defense in the NFL -- and Brett Hundley, a free-agent-to-be, couldn't beat out Streveler.

Colt McCoy has been around the league. He can get a team through a game -- last year, filling in for the injured Daniel Jones with the Giants, he played just well enough to let the Giants upset the Seahawks -- and so there is a little more comfort if, say, Murray turned an ankle and had to leave the game.

Clearly, however, there were other reasons why McCoy ended up on the roster.

"I go back to Carson Palmer, some of the things he told me about early in the process, one of the things that helped him was having Jon Kitna at quarterback," Cardinals GM Steve Keim said. "A veteran guy who helped him with the little things, whether it was practice habits or the way he studied film, Carson gives him a great deal of credit."

We will see if Murray and McCoy can develop such a relationship (or McCoy and Streveler for that matter, given Streveler's inexperience). Certainly, the Cardinals don't want Murray's streak of starting every NFL game since he's arrived to change. But McCoy, who turns 35 in September, can help on game days, even if he's not playing.

"Colt has a great reputation for being a leader, a guy who is great in the locker room," Keim said. "To add a veteran player that hopefully can have that type of influence not only in the locker room but in the quarterback room ... Kyler is a guy we are so excited about, the improvements he's made from year one to year two, now taking that next step to year three is so critical. To have a guy like Colt McCoy could be beneficial to Kyler not only on the practice field but even on game days, what he is seeing out there, the coverages he is getting, how defenses are playing us."