Kurt Warner was open to returning to Cardinals this season

The Arizona Cardinals will never know how far they could have gone in the 2014 NFL Playoffs if Carson Palmer — and Drew Stanton, for that matter — had never gotten hurt. Arizona’s quarterback situation looked so grim at one point that rumors of Kurt Warner making a comeback started flying around, and apparently Warner himself never ruled it out.

During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show on Thursday, the 43-year-old Warner said he would have considered joining the Cardinals if the team was interested.

“There was a scenario where I would have considered it,” Warner admitted. “It went through my mind. I spent a lot of time talking to my family about it and contemplating it.”

Warner specified that he would have thought about taking the first step to see if he could even handle returning to the NFL.

“I think it’s arrogant to think that I could have stepped off the couch and gone into the NFL and played at a playoff-caliber level after a couple weeks,” he said. “I talked to (Bruce Arians) in passing when Drew Stanton went down. More jokingly, they were like, ‘It might be time for you to start loosening up.’ It was more tongue-in-cheek.

“Physically I feel really good. Is that the same as being able to compete at the NFL level? Absolutely not.”

Warner has not played in an NFL game since he was with the Cardinals in 2009. That’s four full seasons and most of a fifth away from the game. For a 43-year-old, there’s almost no question that would have been too much to overcome.

Then again, the Cardinals didn’t have many better options. Ryan Lindley proved that against the Carolina Panthers. The only better option for Arizona may have been this guy.