Written by Jenny Vrentas at MMQB.com
The next generation of NFL signal callers just flew into town on Wednesday. They won’t work out until Saturday, but the frantic search for quality quarterbacks is the biggest agenda item as teams descend on Indianapolis for the NFL combine.
With the combine ending the day before the legal tampering period of free agency begins, the next week or so is the time for teams with a glaring need at quarterback—Cleveland, the Jets and the entirely quarterback-less 49ers among them—to chart a plan for the most important position on the roster. That can happen in the interview rooms or back-channel meetings with agents or other teams.
The biggest domino in this offseason’s quarterback sweeps is Patriots back-up Jimmy Garoppolo. The MMQB’s Peter King has written for a few weeks that he’d be surprised if the Patriots traded Tom Brady’s back-up, and Wednesday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Garoppolo will not be dealt, at any price. If that holds true, and if the Patriots truly can’t be swayed by a package like a first- and a third-round pick from a very interested team like the Browns, that will be a sea change for the quarterback marketplace.
Garoppolo, who started just two games for the Patriots during Brady’s suspension, is not a sure thing as a starter. But all you need to know about how teams around the league view him is that the Patriots are intent on holding onto the 25-year-old, taken with a second-round pick in 2014. If he’s not available, teams in the market for a starting quarterback will have to order off a menu that no longer includes the best dish. The remaining choices:
1) Another young back-up with a small set of starting experience, like Mike Glennon (a free agent) or AJ McCarron (under contract for one more year in Cincinnati). If you’re the Browns, good luck getting Mike Brown to trade McCarron within the division.
2) A veteran like Tony Romo or Jay Cutler, who are expected to be available either by trade or as free agents if their teams release them, or Colin Kaepernick, who will reportedly opt out of his contract and become a free agent. Asking around about potential trade value, I’ve heard in the neighborhood of a third-round pick for Romo and a fifth-round pick for Cutler. Given the going rate for quarterbacks, Romo’s contract is not prohibitive for a trade, though the Cowboys releasing him appears to be the most likely outcome. The Bears would have to wait for Cutler to pass a physical before executing a trade, and he certainly wouldn’t fit into every locker room. But he still has the arm talent and, as one team executive put it, “there are not enough quality quarterbacks, so he will definitely be a starter in 2017.”
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