Last offseason, the Bengals offered quarterback AJ McCarron to the Jets. The team ultimately declined the trade, but ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini believes the organization could have more interest in the free agent this offseason.
The writer believes McCarron is the team’s backup plan to Kirk Cousins, and he anticipates that the 2014 fifth-rounder will receive a deal that exceeds Mike Glennon‘s three-year, $45MM contract ($18.5MM guaranteed) from last year. Ultimately, considering the Jets would have to invest in a quarterback with only three career starts, Cimini believes the team would be better off rolling with Josh McCown for another season.
Let’s take a look at some more quarterback notes from around the NFL…
- March 14th is essentially the deadline for the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees to come to an agreement on a new contract, writes ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano. The final three seasons of the veteran’s contract will void on that day, and if they wish to keep Brees for another season, they’d be required to tolerate his salary and his “$18 million worth of signing bonus prorated on this year’s salary cap.”
- Meanwhile, Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com says if Brees ends up reaching free agency, the Browns could be a serious suitor. The team is rostering a talented wideout in Josh Gordon and a veteran tackle in Joe Thomas, and they’re armed with $110MM in cap space and several alluring draft picks. While Brees may not want to consider an organization that just completed a winless season, the writer believes a one-year, $50MM might not be out of the question.
- Until he inks a new deal, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com will continue to regard Brees as the top free agent quarterback. The writer rounds out his list of the top signal-callers with Cousins, Case Keenum, McCarron, and Sam Bradford.
- Jameis Winston will surely receive a hefty payday from the Buccaneers, but Rick Stroud of TampaBay.com wonders if the new deal “will cost the Bucs more than money.” Considering the type of deal Winston will sign, the writer wonders if the contract could limit the organization’s ability to extend several of their young core players. As a result, Stroud believes the team should make it a priority to sign receiver Mike Evans, center Ali Marpet, tackle Donovan Smith and linebacker Kwon Alexander to new deals as soon as possible.
Brees is a great qb, but for him to leave to go to the browns on a one year, $50MM deal is a complete waste of time and money for the browns. They aren’t going to seriously compete next year (with or without Brees), so why spend $50MM on a placeholder QB? Also, I’m not sure if Winston really needs to be extended.
The Browns really aren’t far from competing. I know they had a winless season, but the only thing they really need is a competent QB.
Best Scenario: Sign Cousins, Landry, Draft Barkley and Fitzpatrick. Instant Contender
2nd scenario: Sign an old vet QB (Brees, McCown), Landry and Kyle Fuller.. Draft Barkley at 1. Draft Rosen/Darnold/Allen at 4. Again instant contender.
I believe with those acquisitions the Browns would be well on their way to a 3-13 season.
Landry paired with barkley and gordon would be insane.
The browns shouldnt invest in a QB.
Plan A- get Cousins
Plan B- get McCarron
Plan C- trade for glennon. Lets be honest glennon had no wrs in chicago. Gordon, Landry, and picking up a good slot and 2nd te to njoku would be wise for any qb.
They can get glennon cheap now, send a 7th, chicago adds money, they draft a successor next year or this year in the 2nd.
Fix the oline, fix the secondary and cleveland will contend.
I don’t think the browns are that far away from competing either, but as long as Hue is the coach I don’t have much faith… with the number 1 overall pick, they can (emphasis on “can”) set themselves up for a decade of stability. So why get a HOF QB toward the end of his career on a 1 year deal? I think the likely scenario is a bridge veteran qb and a qb #1 overall. Regardless of the perceived value the QB has compared to Chubb, Saquon and Fitzpatrick.
Who’s Mike Glennon?
Upvote
Why on earth would a team with no hope of winning waste $50 mil on a QB that probably wants another ring before he hangs em up? I’m guessing he’d take half of that to stay in NO and they could pay $800k to get the same result (no playoffs).
Jacksonville had no hope just last year
Jacksonville was in much better shape. They have a man in charge who won TWO Super Bowls in the past 10 years and a competent Headcoach. they weren’t coming off 0 win season, had a competent qb and just drafted a good rb.
Truth
The better question is why on earth would Brees go to the Browns. He’s still playing because he wants a 2nd championship. The Browns make absolutely no sense for Brees.
I agree. I should have posted that in my original comment about browns not wanting Brees. I’m sure Brees doesn’t want the browns just as much, if not more, but then again $50MM is a lot of money.
Why would you worry about signing D. Smith? He’s one of the worst starting LTs in the league and needs to be replaced ASAP. Marpet and Dotson are the only OLs worth starting. We got a long way to go to fix this line. We could start with that G from Norte dame but a pass rusher is even higher priority.
The Browns’ potential interest in Brees is weird, too. He’s benefited from playing at least half his games in a dome where he doesn’t have to fight wind and cold and he can get by with impeccable timing and mediocre/declining arm strength. Cleveland? Seriously?
Ugh! Winless Winston! Anyone who watches him play live can agree: there are flashes of greatness. That’s not a good thing though because fans would rather have flashes of mistakes and have a great QB. Often the term potential is used in conjunction with Winston. This statement will hold true 11 years from now: “Winston has a lot of potential.”
The bottom line, if you can’t bring home the wins with the offensive weapons The Bucs have, you are a poor QB.