Carson Palmer is one of the most consistent quarterbacks of his generation — a player whose career coefficient of variation places him among the most reliable performers at the position. Year in, year out, Palmer delivered without dramatic peaks or valleys — the kind of player who earns trust, not headlines.
Career Value · VORP
365 career value over replacement — #59 all-time of 4,695. 26.1/season above a replacement-level QB.
Pick #1 (Rd 1) · CIN · 2003 · +7.7 vs expected KV-H
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Rate Carson Palmer — All-Time
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Season totals or exact team stints. Career totals count each season once.
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | VAL | Passing | Rushing | Snap Counts | Defense | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | TD% | Int% | Y/A | AdjY/A | TD:INT | Rate | Sk | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | TD% | 1D | 1D% | Fmb | Off | Off% | Def | Def% | ST | ST% | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | ||||||
| 2004 | 24–25 | CIN | 13 | — | 8.4 | 263 | 432 | 60.9% | 2,897 | 18 | 18 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 6.7 | 5.7 | 1.0 | 77.3 | 25 | 18 | 47 | 1 | 2.6 | 5.6 | 4 | 22.2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | 25–26 | CIN | 16 | — | 26.8 | 345 | 509 | 67.8% | 3,836 | 32 | 12 | 6.3 | 2.4 | 7.5 | 7.7 | 2.7 | 101.1 | 20 | 33 | 44 | 1 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 6 | 18.2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2006 | 26–27 | CIN | 16 | — | 12.6 | 324 | 520 | 62.3% | 4,036 | 28 | 13 | 5.4 | 2.5 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 2.2 | 93.9 | 36 | 26 | 35 | 0 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 6 | 23.1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2007 | 27–28 | CIN | 16 | — | 13.1 | 373 | 575 | 64.9% | 4,130 | 26 | 20 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 7.2 | 6.5 | 1.3 | 86.6 | 17 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 3 | 12.5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2008 | 28–29 | CIN | 4 | — | 2.7 | 76 | 130 | 58.5% | 736 | 3 | 4 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 5.7 | 4.7 | 0.8 | 69.3 | 11 | 6 | 38 | 0 | 6.3 | 0.0 | 2 | 33.3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2009 | 29–30 | CIN | 16 | — | 10.7 | 282 | 466 | 60.5% | 3,094 | 21 | 13 | 4.5 | 2.8 | 6.6 | 6.3 | 1.6 | 83.6 | 26 | 39 | 93 | 3 | 2.4 | 7.7 | 12 | 30.8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2010 | 30–31 | CIN | 16 | — | 15.5 | 362 | 586 | 61.8% | 3,970 | 26 | 20 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 6.8 | 6.1 | 1.3 | 82.4 | 26 | 32 | 50 | 0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 6 | 18.8 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2011 | 31–32 | OAK | 10 | — | 7.3 | 199 | 328 | 60.7% | 2,753 | 13 | 16 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 8.4 | 7.0 | 0.8 | 80.5 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 1 | 1.3 | 6.3 | 5 | 31.3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2012 | 32–33 | OAK | 15 | — | 21.5 | 345 | 565 | 61.1% | 4,018 | 22 | 14 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 7.1 | 6.8 | 1.6 | 85.3 | 26 | 18 | 36 | 1 | 2.0 | 5.6 | 7 | 38.9 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2013 | 33–34 | ARI | 16 | — | 11.2 | 362 | 572 | 63.3% | 4,274 | 24 | 22 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 7.5 | 6.6 | 1.1 | 83.9 | 41 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1 | 3.7 | 0 | 1,081 | 99.7% | — | 0.0% | — | 0.0% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 34–35 | ARI | 6 | — | 10.0 | 141 | 224 | 62.9% | 1,626 | 11 | 3 | 4.9 | 1.3 | 7.3 | 7.6 | 3.7 | 95.6 | 9 | 8 | 25 | 0 | 3.1 | 0.0 | 1 | 12.5 | 0 | 409 | 97.7% | — | 0.0% | — | 0.0% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2015 | 35–36 | ARI | 16 | — | 22.6 | 342 | 537 | 63.7% | 4,671 | 35 | 11 | 6.5 | 2.0 | 8.7 | 9.1 | 3.2 | 104.6 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 1 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4 | 16.0 | 0 | 1,039 | 93.2% | — | 0.0% | — | 0.0% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2016 | 36–37 | ARI | 15 | — | 7.7 | 364 | 597 | 61.0% | 4,233 | 26 | 14 | 4.4 | 2.3 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 1.9 | 87.2 | 40 | 14 | 38 | 0 | 2.7 | 0.0 | 3 | 21.4 | 1 | 1,045 | 96.5% | — | 0.0% | — | 0.0% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 37–38 | ARI | 7 | — | 5.9 | 164 | 267 | 61.4% | 1,978 | 9 | 7 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 7.4 | 6.9 | 1.3 | 84.4 | 22 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 5 | 35.7 | 0 | 459 | 93.1% | — | 0.0% | — | 0.0% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 182 | — | 176.0 | 3,942 | 6,308 | 62.5% | 46,252 | 294 | 187 | 4.7 | 3.0 | 7.3 | 6.9 | 1.6 | 87.9 | 341 | 300 | 475 | 8 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 65 | 21.7 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
Regular-season all-time ranks
Postseason all-time ranks
An all-time caliber quarterback (top 5% all-time) who combined elite production with reliable availability. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.
Worth 365 points of value above a freely-available replacement quarterback — top 2% of all 4,695 ranked at the position. 13 of 14 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +28.1 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
13 seasons × ~28.1 surplus ≈
Matt Schaub
QB
88% match
2003 Draft ClassmatesFull class →
Season honors and record seasons