MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Brady IMO is the best "game manager" QB the league has seen. And I don't know why people take that as an insult. Yes many QBs use their brains and certain play calls (which needs a smart coach which Tom had) to make up for their lack in other skills but why can't you have that and those other skills? I'd love my QB to be a game-manager. If you can be that, a leader AND have other elite QB skills you can be on my roster any day.

 

The Donovan McNabb trade, 10 years later



Ten years ago on Easter (not 10 years to the day because Easter was on April 4 that year), a quiet news day quickly got a lot louder when the Eagles traded quarterback Donovan McNabb. Making the move even more surprising was the fact that a division rival did the deal, with Washington sending the 37th overall pick in the 2010 draft and a fourth-round pick in 2011 for McNabb.

The move happened just three days after then-Eagles coach Andy Reid told reporters that McNabb would remain the team’s starting quarterback. Instead, Kevin Kolb opened the year as the top quarterback, and then a concussion in Week Two opened the door for Mike Vick’s second act.

Things started well for McNabb; Washington beat the Cowboys in Week One and after losses to the Texans and Rams upended the Eagles in Week Four at Philadelphia. But things fell apart as the season unfolded, even as McNabb received a new contract from Washington that was worth a lot less than initially reported. Washington dropped McNabb to third on the depth chart little more than a month later, and the team unloaded McNabb onto the Vikings after only one season.

McNabb started 1-5 in Minnesota during the 2011 season, was benched for rookie Christian Ponder, was later released per McNabb’s request, and never played again even though he turned 35 just days before the Vikings cut him.

Think about that one for a second. At the time McNabb was cut, Tom Brady was 34. And Brady is still going strong.

So the Eagles clearly made the right call, jettisoning McNabb not one year too early nor one year too late but at the right time, getting real value for him. And Washington would make everyone forget the botched trade only two years later, by giving up a lot more to get Robert Griffin III.

NBC

 

Bears keep waiting to declare on Mitchell Trubisky’s option



The Bears gave a pretty good indication of their thoughts on Mitchell Trubisky‘s future when they traded for Nick Foles and declared an open competition for the starting job.

So it stands to reason they’re stalling on stating their intentions in a financial way.

Via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, Bears General Manager Ryan Pace kicked the can down the road when asked about the Bears picking up the fifth-year option for the former No. 2 overall pick.

“We will cross that bridge once we get through this weekend,” Pace said, buying himself a little time.

The Bears have to decide by May 4 whether or not to pick up an option worth $24 million for 2021, which seems like an obvious thing they would not do. Then again, they once traded four things to move up one spot in the draft to take Trubisky instead of Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson, so you never can tell.

Pace has consistently tried to push the decision (or the declaration, since it seems unlikely they don’t know what they’re doing) off until later, but all their actions suggest it has been made.

NBC, PFT

 

Cowboys remain confident of long-term deal with Dak Prescott



Dak Prescott will receive $31.4 million under the franchise tag in 2020. The Cowboys still plan to sign the quarterback to a long-term deal.

But after more than a year of negotiations, the sides have not come to an agreement and Prescott has not signed his franchise tag. So where do they stand now?

The Cowboys have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal, but they have rarely if ever lost a player they really wanted to keep. (See Cooper, Amari. See Lawrence, DeMarcus. See Bryant, Dez.)

That’s why owner Jerry Jones doesn’t appear to be sweating it.

“I don’t have a time frame,” Jones said during a conference call Tuesday. “It’s not in a list of priorities as you could imagine with everything that we all are dealing with as well as what we’re doing with the draft. I don’t have the time frame, but I’m not concerned about that at all as to any of those issues. Again, no surprises here. No surprise on the amount that the franchise counts against the [cap], and no surprise we’re sitting here relative to where we are without a long-term agreement. What is the issue here and the challenge is how do we have communication with everyone and do the best we can with what we’ve got and what the league is doing as it pertains to getting our team ready. Dak is very much a part of that.”

New Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was evasive when asked about Prescott’s participation in the virtual offseason program that began Monday. But he stressed the sessions are voluntary, indicating Prescott is not participating, as PFT reported last week would happen.

“He’s going to be our starting quarterback,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “Obviously, he’s franchised, and our bigger goal is to get him signed long term, and we think we can do that.”

NBC

 

If only the Bears hadn't picked up Pace's option, we might already be rid of another terrible GM.

 

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Jameis Winston is preparing to accept a job where he’ll have no chance of starting.​

Winston is finalizing a one-year contract with the Saints, according to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports.


In New Orleans, Winston would compete with Taysom Hill to back up Drew Brees. Last year’s backup, Teddy Bridgewater, has moved on to Carolina, and Winston would have a good chance of earning the No. 2 job, which the Saints seem hesitant to hand to Hill because of his role as a runner, receiver and special teams player.


The Saints don’t have much cap space available, so Winston is presumably not going to be making much money this season. But Winston may see New Orleans as a place where he can learn from Sean Payton and a good offensive coaching staff, and position himself to get a big contract next year — just as Bridgewater parlayed his time in New Orleans into a big contract this year.


A former No. 1 overall pick who was once viewed as the Buccaneers’ franchise quarterback of the future, Winston led the NFL in interceptions last season and will now try to learn the finer points of the quarterback position while backing up a future Hall of Famer.

NBC​

 

Saints, Taysom Hill agree to two-year, $21 million contract



Taysom Hill is committing to the Saints for two more years.

Hill, who had been tendered as a restricted free agent for this year, has agreed to a two-year deal to keep him in New Orleans through 2021.

According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, it’s a two-year, $21 million deal with $16 million guaranteed.

That gives Hill a significant bump from the $4.6 million he would have made this year if he had only signed his tender offer, but it also pays him a lot less than starting quarterbacks make on the open market, and Hill has consistently maintained that he expects to be a starting quarterback some day — and Saints coach Sean Payton has said Hill has that kind of talent.

Although the Saints are reportedly close to finalizing a deal with Jameis Winston, nothing has been announced on that front. If Winston were to sign with the Saints, he would likely take over the backup role Teddy Bridgewater played behind Drew Brees last year, while Hill would continue to play a variety of positions.

NBC
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Wht would Jameis Winston want to sign there?

 

Still closer to home, and a chance to at least win the starting job for 2021

 

In what should come as no surprise to anyone, the Texans exercised the fifth-year option on quarterback Deshaun Watson‘s contract, Field Yates of ESPN reports.

Watson was one of the easier option decisions among the 32 players selected in the first-round in 2017. The deadline is May 4 at 11:59:59.

The Texans and Watson both seek a long-term deal and have had “very preliminary discussions.”

Among the first-round picks from 2017, only Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey has secured a long-term deal.

Watson is scheduled to make $4.4 million in 2020, including $1.177 million in base salary.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension a year ago, so both Watson and Patrick Mahomes will see similar money sometime in the not too distant future.

NBC

 

Watson is a good QB, but he isn’t on the same planet as Mahomes and his salary should be a lot less than Mahomes.

 

Don’t count on it. Might be a few cents less than Mahomes. But not much.

Remember when Joe Flacco signed in Baltimore? Or Jared Goff’s last contract? If you’re anywhere in the top 10 and you’re due for contract renewal, you can back up the Brinx truck. Just the cost of keeping QBs in the NFL these days.

 

I’m not saying it will be just that no QB in the league is worth what Mahomes would make, not even the half RB ones.

 

Missing Russell Wilson made Eagles jump on Jalen Hurts



It’s not that the Eagles necessarily think quarterback Jalen Hurts is going to turn into Russell Wilson.

But memories of missing out on Wilson in the 2012 NFL Draft played a part in the Eagles using a second-round pick on Hurts this year, a decision which has drawn a mixed response considering the contract they gave starting quarterback Carson Wentz.

Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman told John Clark of NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com that he didn’t want to risk losing a player he had targeted. In 2012, his hope was to draft Russell Wilson in the third round and then Nick Foles in the fourth. The Seahawks took Wilson 75th overall, leaving the Eagles to take Foles 88th overall so they didn’t miss out completely.

“In 2012, we had a vision,” Roseman said. “We had a vision that we would draft a quarterback who’s been extremely successful, and I don’t want tampering charges on me but I think we can understand who that was, and then come back in the fourth round and draft a quarterback who won a world championship for us and go back-to-back. And I feel like we got a little cute. And I don’t know that there’s a big difference between taking the 53rd pick in the draft and taking a pick in the third round if you feel strongly about a guy.”

The Eagles had a pair of second-round picks in 2012, and used the 46th overall choice on Mychal Kendricks and the 59th on Vinny Curry. While both those players have their merits, it’s hard to argue they’ve been more valuable than Wilson would have been.

The Eagles have insisted that the selection of Hurts doesn’t change the way they view Wentz. But the way they view the quarterback position has changed over the years, and Roseman doesn’t want to get caught short there again.

NBC

 

If he doesn’t want to get caught short he should take his ED medicine, not draft QBs.

 

Saints announce they've signed Jameis Winston

It took more than a month for quarterback Jameis Winston to find his way to his new NFL home.

Two days after news came to the forefront that Winston was expected to sign with the New Orleans Saints, the team announced Tuesday afternoon it has indeed agreed to a one-year deal to add Winston to the roster of the reigning NFC South champions.

Winston was replaced by Tom Brady in Tampa Bay this offseason and will now presumably back up another legend in Drew Brees.

So, somehow, someway, the 2020 NFC South will feature Brees, Brady, Winston, Teddy Bridgewater and Matt Ryan.

Bridgewater filled in in spectacular fashion for an injured Brees last year, but moved on to take the starting reins for the Panthers. Winston will now presumably take on that role while looking to smooth the edges on a skillset that's been the most remarkable example of boom or bust in NFL history, evidenced by his 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions last year.

Also in the quarterback room is Taysom Hill, who coach Sean Payton had previously announced as the second-stringer, so that might well be a storyline to watch.

Only eight quarterbacks have ever thrown for more than 5,000 yards in a season and now the Saints have two in Brees and last year's NFL passing champion Winston.

NFL.com
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Jameis the clip board holder' Winston...

 

How many times will the clipboard be intercepted?

 

Every time a play goes wrong Brees will snatch it out of his hands

 

Will or Gidi..........have you guys done the Math yet......how much are the Saints paying these TWO QB's ???

Sorry I'm too lazy Isolating to look it up........lol

 

Jameis Winston = 1 yr / $1,100,000

Taysom Hill = signed a 1 year, $16,300,000 contract with the New Orleans Saints, including $16,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $16,300,000. In 2020, Hill will earn a base salary of $4,641,000, while carrying a cap hit of $4,641,000.

 

If they truly believe this then I have to question their player assessment.

Hurts simply does not possess the arm talent that Russell does.