TEMPE, Ariz. -- As it turns out, the Arizona Cardinals weren’t all that close to signing quarterback Kirk Cousins despite general manager Steve Keim being the first to call Cousins' agent, Mike McCartney.

Keim called McCartney at 12:10 p.m. last Monday, just minutes after the legal tampering period began, according to TheMMQB.com, which chronicled the pursuit of Cousins during free agency with help from McCartney, who kept a detailed journal of Cousins’ negotiations.

Cousins and McCartney had long predicted the Cardinals would be one of the teams pursuing the former Washington quarterback. By last week, the Cardinals were one of four teams showing serious interest in Cousins, along with the Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos and New York Jets. When Keim spoke with McCartney, he pitched the Cardinals’ foundation of young stars, namely running back David Johnson, linebacker Chandler Jones and cornerback Patrick Peterson, according to the report.

After the Broncos signed Case Keenum, the race for Cousins was down to three teams.

However, McCartney opted to handle Cousins’ free agency simply: Each team got one offer. That’s it. From there, McCartney and Cousins would decide which team or teams to visit.

After the offers were turned in, the Cardinals were in third place, according to the report. The Vikings sat in first. The Jets were in second.

On Monday night, McCartney told Keim he couldn’t guarantee Cousins would visit the Cardinals. If the Cardinals needed to move on from Cousins to pursue a different quarterback, McCartney told Keim that he would understand, according to the report.

The Cardinals did just that.

Around midday Tuesday, the news that Arizona intended to sign Sam Bradford had spread.

Cousins signed with the Vikings on Thursday. Bradford signed his contract with Arizona on Friday.