by Pigskin Paul Guillemette; GBN Associate Editor
It happens every year, though some years are crazier than others. It is very unlikely that anyone would argue that the QB position is the single most important slot to fill on any NFL team. If you don’t have a quality starter you are not going to [m]any Super Bowls. And yet, because of Salary Cap restrictions and more guaranteed money than ever in most QB contracts, keeping one of the better QB on a team’s roster just gets harder and harder every year. This year seems to be especially difficult, and a large part of that is due to the crazy contract that the desperate BROWNS franchise gave to Massage King, DESHAUN WATSON last Summer. Fully Guaranteed!!!
Now every General Manager around the League is in a position to tell player agents that the Browns contract to Watson was an outlier, and unmatchable, when said agent’s QB client comes up for a new contract. The NFL was the last bastion of major sports to resist the guaranteed money clause in player’s contracts, in good part because of the violent nature of football and resultant injuries that do occur. Then there is the factor of the NFL having the least flexible Salary Cap rules in major pro sports to deal with. The door was opened just a crack when the Vikings guaranteed a record amount in the contract they gave to Kirk Cousins, to liberate him from Daniel Snyder’s Evil Empire franchise. WATSON’s BROWNS contract last season blew that door off the hinges.
Per my math, I see as many as a dozen NFL teams being in the QB market this off-season. And I only see 2 (almost) sure things in the 2023 NFL Draft QB pool. BRYCE YOUNG/Alabama & C.J. STROUD/Ohio State are the elite twosome, but even they don’t appear to be Franchise QB locks. YOUNG would be the smallest franchise QB in modern NFL history at about 5’10” tall and weighing under 200 lbs. And STROUD is a bit stiff athletically and streaky with his accuracy. And that is not even mentioning a somewhat disappointing pro performance from more than a few Buckeyes QB who headed to the NFL, in recent memory.
An unusual, and elusively documentable twist to this off-season QB scramble was the second, and likely final, retirement of one TOM “The Goat” BRADY. A lot of football folks I talk to had felt the RAIDERS, who somewhat surprisingly cut ties with DEREK CARR during the 2022 season, were targeting BRADY as a short term fix to their QB vacancy. That now looks like a pipe dream that went up in smoke. Currently, the hot talk has shifted to the RAIDERS having designs on one AARON RODGERS. I think RODGERS is exiting his “darkness clarity” experiment as I write this. We should hear of his clarity of mind regarding his football future sometime soon… maybe.
But the fly in that ointment is two-fold. First, RODGERS has a highly complex and expensive contract with the Packers that runs through the upcoming 2023 season. And now that he has re-entered the real world of today, the JETS are said to be prepared to pursue Mr. Rodgers to join them in their Big Apple neighborhood. But that is complicated somewhat by the apparent interest the JETS also have for the previously mentioned Mr. CARR.
The SAINTS spent a couple of days courting Mr. CARR and his agent in the Big Easy a couple of weeks back. But for now that seems to be on hold while the SAINTS contact the agents for more than few of their veteran players to talk about contract restructuring to create Cap Room for CARR. This could take a while to resolve, if even possible to do. But the Saints have to do something given that their current roster QB are ANDY DALTON (VFA), JAMEIS WINSTON (still rehabbing his knee & a VFA) and proclaimed TE TAYSOM HILL.
Perhaps the biggest Franchise QB situation in the League revolves around the RAVENS and their star QB LAMAR JACKSON. This one seems pretty clear cut as to what the major stumbling block is for their now FA QB. The stumbling block is reputed to be JACKSON’s desire that his new contract be totally guaranteed. (See above under BROWNS for more on that concept). And the RAVENS have no desire to set a franchise precedent in agreeing to that concept. Jackson’s negotiating demands are not helped by the fact that he has missed significant playing time each of the past two seasons because of injuries. And a good part of his game is his running ability ala a guy named VICK a decade or so back. To add fuel to the fire here, JACKSON and his mom are negotiating this new contract, sans agent. Without the negotiating savvy of a seasoned agent it is very hard to predict where this goes next. Good luck to the Ravens and their loyal fan base. Without JACKSON this team might finish last in their decision next season. And there is high speculation that even using the Franchise Tag on LAMAR may do little to resolve the contact issues.
Talk about a convoluted dilemma… how about the 49’ers, who almost punched a ticket to the Super Bowl until having to play much of the NFC Championship game with career/journeyman QB JOHN JOHNSON at QB. So let’s revisit this scenario from last Summer’s Training Camp. Their top Pick in the 2021 Draft, TREY LANCE, was supposed to take over the starting QB job in 2022. It was carved in stone to the point where former starter JIMMY GAROPPOLO, who was rehabbing a shoulder injury, was not allowed to practice with the team when Training Camp began. He was relegated to another practice field. Surprise Rookie QB BROCK PURDY, last Pick in the 2022 Draft won a roster spot. Then all hell broke loose starting with a serious foot injury to LANCE… out for the season. GAROPPOLO was re-signed and became the starting QB again. Right around mid-season JIMMY G was injured (per usual), and PURDY was pushed into the starting job, where he excelled and led the team to that NFC Championship Game. But he got hurt in the first half and you know the rest.
So flash forward to now… Jimmy G. is a VFA, again, TREY LANCE is expected to start, again, and PURDY still has not had surgery for the injury because of continued swelling in his right arm. Jimmy G. is likely to get interest around the League when Vet Free Agency begins in March. Where does all this leave the 49’ers, who with a solid vet QB are a serious Super Bowl contending team? In limbo again, is the correct answer at this time.
There are other VFA and general QB shuffling on the horizon, many of which we will touch upon in the next two months leading up to the Draft. But my last words for now revolve around DA BEARS in Chicago; QB Justin Fields being traded to move on to another, as yet unnamed QB?! Crazy talk, pure and simple. To even hint at starting over again at QB, and moving on from FIELDS, who has battled valiantly on a talent poor team is crazy talk. If new GM POLES were to make such a move, no matter what the Draft Pick haul, then GOODELL should immediately call an emergency Ownership meeting to demand that the McCaskey family be forced to sell the BEARS franchise. BEARS fans would at the least deserve a new ownership group.
Stay tuned folks, this whole game of musical QB chairs is just starting to pick up steam. Wait until the Combine is over and the Veteran Free Agency period kicks in.
Cheers for now.
Pigskin
