With the trade deadline behind us, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero provided some insight into the completed deals. Notably, the writer discussed the 49ers–Patriots trade involving quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. While he initially opined that New England should have gotten a bigger return for the signal-caller, he started to see the logic after talking to league executives.
As Pelissero explains, the team surely would have gotten a lesser return had they franchised Garoppolo and then traded him. Alternatively, had the quarterback departed via free agency, the team would have simply acquired a compensatory pick in the third round.
“They kept the insurance policy,” said an NFL executive. “The risk was greater back in April. It’s less now. And it’s also the deadline. This was their last chance to get the best that they can. … Now, they’re halfway through the season. They know they’re going to lose the player. If they lose the player, even if it’s one of the most outrageous contracts in history, the best they can get is a compensatory third.”
Of course, these executives also touted the 49ers for prying the young quarterback away from New England.
“I give credit to San Francisco,” said one GM, “because in the offseason, four or five teams called (the Patriots) and they said, ‘Absolutely not. No way.’ “
Let’s take a look at some more notes from Pelissero regarding the trade deadline…
The Chargers had been shopping wideout Dontrelle Inman since training camp, but they couldn’t find a partner before completing a deal with the Bears.
The Marcell Dareus trade was simply a cap dump, with Pelissero noting that the defensive tackle had worn out his welcome among Bills teammates and the coaching staff. However, the Jaguars were seemingly willing to take the risk since his former coach, Doug Marrone, “could vouch for him.”
Interim GM MartyHurney only talked to the Bills before dealing wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin. The Panthers were looking to get more speed on the field, and they weren’t planning on extending Benjamin.
A.J. McCarron‘s future will depend on a pending grievance regarding his free agency status. The Bengals backup quarterback is arguing that he should be an unrestricted free agent, but time spent on the NFI list could earn him the restricted tag. Cincinnati had a deal in place with the Browns for the quarterback, but the trade was rejected by the NFL.
But unfortunately, injuries have become commonplace in the game, it’s what has transpired with the trade news and other stories that have sort of set this season apart from years past in terms of the number two’s on the QB depth chart.
The trade deadline showed one of the league’s brightest backups backups get moved in Jimmy Garoppolo and another almost get dealt (A.J. McCarron) if not for some poor timing at the the hands of the Cleveland Browns.
Speaking of Cleveland, they’ve been going back and forth with their two main QB options in DeShone Kizer and Kevin Hogan. The Vikings are down to their third string too in Case Keenum, who has of course led them to a 6-2 record thus far.
Denver is in the midst of a signal caller fiasco too as the team has officially replaced incumbent starter Trevor Siemian with former starter then backup and now starter again Brock Osweiler. Throw in injury scares to Joe Flacco, Jameis Winston and yes even Jay Cutler and you have your eye on who’s your team’s backup more than ever before.
In all, 15 backup quarterbacks have seen the field this season and that number will most certainly increase before the year is through. So with league’s clipboard holders in the news more than ever, I pose the question…of all the backups in the game the today who would you feel most confident in leading you to a win right now?
It should be noted that this list excludes the likes of Garoppolo and Siemian because while these two are currently number two’s on the depth chart, neither is really classified as a typical long-term backup.
It has already been widely reported that the Browns botched a trade for Bengals quarterback A.J. McCarron, but information is still coming out about exactly what made the deal fall through. In a piece from Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, she explains some of the background behind the negotiations. Kabot states that the main problem behind the failed trade, apart from being sent to the league past the deadline, was that the documents of each team failed to match. Cabot reports that the conditions of the trade were not explained equally on both sides, which meant that the deal would have fallen through even if the deal was made within the desired time frame.
Kabot’s article dives deeper into the failed trade, stating that Bengals owner Mike Brown was the “driving force” behind McCarron being shipped to a division rival. However, this wasn’t a sign of distaste for the backup signal caller, rather Kabot explains that Brown actually wanted to put McCarron in a situation where he could play. While Kabot clarifies that not all of the Bengals front office was on board with the move, she relays from a source inside the league that, “no one in the Bengals’ organization was standing in the way of getting it done.”
Kabot’s article also touches on the logistics of the trade, with it having been called dead and then alive once again within the hour of the trade deadline. She also explains that sources in the NFL believe the Bengals did the right think in submitting their own paperwork after they had received the Browns materials too late.
However, through all the chaos McCarron remains a Bengal and addressed the media through the team’s website about how he’s handling the situation.
“I’m not angry. I’m not upset. It feels good to be wanted,” McCarron said. “Today I’m going to thank Mr. Brown personally. I admire that he was going to give me an opportunity to go start and play somewhere. I really appreciate that of him. He’s been an unbelievable owner in my experience here.”
In addition to the fiasco that unfolded a few days ago, the backup quarterback is also dealing with a contract dispute regarding whether he should be a restricted free agent at season’s end. But, McCarron seems to have taken his current situation in stride.
“The biggest thing it does, I have been through a lot of mind games,” McCarron said. “I think it makes you mentally tougher. Stronger. Let’s you see all the crazy sides of this business in a short amount of time. Just in my year-long of experienced a lot guys who have been in the league 10 years haven’t experienced. Just by hearing your name and you are, you might be, but like I said, I am blessed to be in my situation and enjoying every minute of it.”
It remains to be seen what will unfold in the coming months for one of the league’s most intriguing number two signal callers. All we do know is that he’s been put in a unique situation and will remain in the same role he started the season, as the backup behind Andy Dalton.
The biggest story from a loaded trade deadline is looking like it was a deal that didn’t happen. Both of Ohio’s NFL teams are dealing with the fallout, one far more than the other.
A disconnect between the Browns’ front office and the coaching staff has long been reported, but now ownership has stepped in after the front office appears to have bungled a trade for Bengals backup quarterback A.J. McCarron. Specifically, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reportsDee Haslam went “nuclear” on the Browns’ front office on Wednesday.
The Bengals would have sent McCarron to Cleveland for second- and third-round draft choices, but several reports have noted the Browns did not send in the necessary paperwork in time. McCarron remains a Bengal, and this latest report lends further weight to the Browns having made a seminal mistake on Tuesday.
Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com reports the Browns contacted the Bengals on Tuesday morning about McCarron’s availability, and the Bengals lowered their asking price to second- and third-round picks. Mike Brown and Sashi Brown were on the phone at around 2:10pm CT, with the latter attempting to convince the Bengals boss to drop the asking price. Mike Brown, per Terrell, held firm by saying this was a good price for an intra-division trade. Terrell adds the Browns then pointed out the 49ers’ deal to acquire Jimmy Garoppolo — who was viewed as a higher-end Cleveland target than McCarron this offseason — only took a second-round pick, prompting Mike Brown to repeat his stance about not being in business of assisting a division rival.
Mike Brown, per Terrell, told Sashi Brown to call back in a few minutes after thinking over the deal. But a call from the Browns saying they would accept the deal didn’t come until 45 minutes later, with around five minutes to the deadline.
The Bengals scrambled to get the paperwork in but managed to send their documentation to the league, with Terrell adding an email coming from Sashi Brown’s assistant — the unfamiliar name on the email adding to the confusion — went unnoticed during this frenzy. Noting teams often check with each other to see if they receive pivotal emails of this sort, Terrell adds this did not happen during the accelerated process.
However, Terrell notes the Bengals having seen this email wouldn’t have mattered since the Browns needed to send signed documentation to the NFL as well.
“All you have to do is notify the league office you are making a deal. That’s an easy thing,” Marvin Lewis said, via Terrell, who reports the Bengals did have a league rep on the phone while they were completing the agreement. “We spoke to a person in there.”
A league source informed Terrell there’s uncertainty about the Browns’ intent on making this trade, adding that there might have been a disconnect between the front office and coaching staff regarding this transaction. The source pointed out how much time elapsed between Mike Brown-Sashi Brown phone conversations as evidence. This comes after cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot reportedHue Jackson was on board with this trade Tuesday.
Florio reports seven teams have told PFT the Browns and Bengals should have separately contacted the NFL about the terms of this trade.
“Only requirement is for both clubs to separately notify the league office via email of trade terms. If trade terms match, deal done,” a source emailed Florio. “No need to sign paperwork and submit prior. Have 15 days to submit trade papers (with terms that identically match emails).”
These latest revelations figure to add to what’s been one of the more dysfunctional setups in recent NFL memory. And with the 0-8 Browns (1-23 since this new regime began work) considering personnel changes, this will not help convince ownership this arrangement can continue as is.
The Bengals and Browns had a deal in place to sendA.J. McCarron to Cleveland, but the trade did not go through. More came out as to why McCarron is still in Cincinnati on Wednesday.
Ohio’s NFL teams discussed this deal throughout the day, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports, with a source informing the Browns-embedded reporter it wasn’t certain the Browns wanted to complete the deal — one that would have sent McCarron to Cleveland for second- and third-round picks.
The Browns agreed to the Bengals’ terms just before the deadline, but several sources confirmed to Cabot Adam Schefter of ESPN.com’s report of the Browns not getting the necessary paperwork to the league in time. Separate emailed agreements to the league constitute a trade, and Cabot reports the Browns’ signed document didn’t go to the league in time. (The Browns’ subsequent request to get the NFL to allow the trade failed.)
A source also informed Cabot the Browns emailed a signed trade agreement to the Bengals, expecting them to sign it and send it to the NFL. But a Bengals spokesman said, per Cabot, the team never received said email.
This stands to add to the discord between the front office and the coaching staff, because Hue Jackson pushed for this trade, Cabot reports. The second-year Browns coach made McCarron a priority target in the offseason after he realized his team wasn’t going to offer enough to pry Jimmy Garoppolo away from the Patriots. And Jackson was again behind a McCarron deal on Tuesday, with Cabot reporting the head coach wanted a veteran capable of winning games while mentoring DeShone Kizer.
McCarron, who went 2-1 as a starter in 2015 before starting in a wild-card loss to the Steelers, is under team control for two more years. But the fourth-year player is fighting for UFA status in hopes of reaching the market and becoming a potential starting option for a team in 2018. The 27-year-old quarterback has thrown just 119 NFL passes, but he worked with Jackson for two years prior to the coach leaving for the Browns’ HC job.
This certainly sends a signal the team doesn’t believe it can be in position to win many games with its current quarterback setup, which is understandable for a Browns operation that’s 1-23 since the new regime took over.
A McCarron addition would seemingly help the Jackson-led team win games this season, but it would not exactly be in line with the front office’s way of thinking. The Browns have made acquiring draft choices a priority, and the team giving up two Day 2 selections for a stopgap-type quarterback would seemingly constitute a change in organizational philosophy.
As it stands now, McCarron will be an RFA this offseason. He has an obvious known suitor but one whose interest level in employing the passer might not be fully known as a result of this saga.
Bengals quarterback A.J. McCarron found himself in the news this week when an oversight from the Browns prevented him from getting traded to Cleveland. But, he may have an opportunity to leave Cincinnati and join up with any team he chooses this spring. The NFLPA is fighting to change his status from restricted free agent to unrestricted free agent after the season, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Because he spent most of his rookie year on the non-football injury list, the Bengals say that he is an RFA. However, the union says that due to the nature and timing of the injury, he should not have been on the NFI list and should have four accrued seasons at the end of 2017 instead of only three.
If McCarron earns UFA status, he’ll be in for a much larger payday. The Bengals are already committed to Andy Dalton under center and it would be nearly impossible for them to commit top-20 QB money to McCarron, so he would almost certainly wind up somewhere else. Potentially, this could be Cleveland’s second chance to land the Alabama product, though McCarron might have some reservations about the Browns organization after Tuesday’s debacle.
The Browns almost landed quarterback A.J. McCarron from the Bengals before the trade deadline, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter) reports. However, the two sides could not reach agreement before 4pm ET/3pm CT on Tuesday.
The two sides actually agreed to a McCarron trade at 3:55 pm ET/2:55pm CT, a source involved tells Schefter (on Twitter). The Bengals approved the trade with the league office in time, but the Browns did not. After the fact, the Browns argued to the NFL that the trade should be allowed, a source tells Schefter (Twitterlinks). The league refused, even though the Browns’ notification of the deal arrived just moments too late.
The proposed deal had the Browns sending a second-round pick and a third-round pick to the Bengals for McCarron, according to Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The near-trade could be a sneak peak into the Browns’ offseason plans. McCarron is headed for restricted free agency in the spring, so Cleveland could theoretically make another run at him. Then again, given the way that the Bengals have valued McCarron in trade talks over the last couple of years, he could still be extremely costly.
McCarron has limited NFL experience after years of playing behind Andy Dalton, but he showed potential down the stretch in 2015 when Dalton was injured. The Browns saw him as someone who could be an upgrade over their murky QB situation, but they did not offer enough to get a deal done at the deadline. Their stockpile of picks remain untouched, but they missed out on an opportunity to spark the offense in the second half. The Browns have also made it clear to second-round pick DeShone Kizer that he is not viewed as the answer under center.
Prior to the 49ers snagging Jimmy Garoppolo for a second-round pick that’s likely to fall at the top of Day 2, the Browns were the team most connected with the former Patriots backup this offseason. And Hue Jackson may have been a key driver behind that Garoppolo-to-Cleveland buzz.
The second-year Browns coach “pushed hard” this offseason for the team to trade for Garoppolo or former Bengals charge A.J. McCarron, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports. Jackson felt Garoppolo could be a big part of a turnaround from Cleveland’s 1-15 season, Cabot reports, and made Tom Brady‘s then-backup his primary offseason target.
Cabot adds the Patriots would have traded Garoppolo to the Browns for “the right offer,” which the longtime Browns reporter notes would have had to include at least one first-round pick. The Browns had two of those going into the draft and ended up with three first-round selections while also carrying multiple second-round picks in April after making the Brock Osweiler trade.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported the Browns offered a second-round pick for Garoppolo, with Cabot adding the team did not go further on Day 2 of this draft to make the necessary offer to the Pats. Browns executive VP Sashi Brown said going into the draft the team was not interested in trading for a veteran quarterback.
Kyle Shanahan and Garoppolo spent time together when the current 49ers coach worked as the Browns’ OC in 2014, and Shanahan told cleveland.com at this year’s Super Bowl he had Garoppolo ranked high among the draftable 2014 passers during his one-year stay in northeast Ohio. Shanahan did not want Johnny Manziel, whom the Browns drafted, nor did he prefer Teddy Bridgewater. However, the short-term Browns play-caller did like Derek Carr and Tom Savage, per Cabot.
When the Patriots and Browns could not agree on terms for Garoppolo, Jackson pivoted to McCarron, Cabot reports. But Jackson viewed the current Bengals backup, whom he coached for two seasons in Cincinnati, as a stopgap until the Browns could land their long-term solution.
Cabot wonders if McCarron would be in play by today’s 3pm CT deadline but reports it would have likely taken at least two second-round picks to pry him from the Bengals this offseason. McCarron is under contract through the 2018 season.
Backup signal-caller A.J. McCarron is well-regarded by both the Bengals and the rest of the NFL, per La Canfora, an unsurprising sentiment given that the Bengals were reportedly offered a second-round pick in exchange for McCarron this offseason. And while Dalton isn’t on a “short leash,” Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis recently indicated changes could come to the Bengals’ roster following the ouster of offensive-play caller Ken Zampese.
“This is not magic,” Lewis said, per Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “You have to do the work. Offense, defense and special teams all alike. Changing; I said we got Kenny out of here. Not Kenny. We did. And they gotta understand that. They’re part of that. And the next time, look around, there will be different guys sitting there. And they realize that, too.”
Through two games, Dalton has posted a quarterback rating that’s nearly half that of his career average while throwing four interceptions against zero touchdowns. Cincinnati’s offense has struggled as a whole, as the running game has sputtered while the club’s beleaguered offensive line ranks 29th in adjusted sack rate. All told, the Bengals are dead last in Football Outsiders’ DVOA ratings.
Franchise owner Mike Brown isn’t necessarily blaming the Bengals players for the team’s poor start, however — prior to Zampese’s firing, Brown told the Cincinnati staff that on-field talent wasn’t the club’s problem, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
August 11th, 2017 at 9:59pm CST by Dallas Robinson
An unidentified team reportedly offered the Bengals a second-round pick for backup quarterback A.J. McCarron this offseason, as Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com reported earlier this week. Cincinnati rejected the offer, as it apparently wants a first-rounder for McCarron, who will once again act as a reserve behind starter Andy Dalton in 2017.
McCarron, 26, doesn’t have much NFL experience, as he’s only made four total starts (all following a 2015 Dalton injury) during his three-year career. Although he posted a decent showing in those appearances, tossing seven touchdowns against two interceptions, the former fifth-round pick’s track record is admittedly limited. McCarron’s contract situation is also up in the air: while the Bengals reportedly believe he’ll be a restricted free agent in 2018 because he spent his rookie season on the non-football injury list, McCarron and his agent may have a different take. An arbitrator hearing and resolution likely won’t come until next season.
With those caveats in mind, let’s look at the possible candidates for who offered a second-round pick for McCarron:
Arizona Cardinals
Let’s start off this exercise with the one true wild card on this list, as the Cardinals already have their starting quarterback in another former Bengal, 37-year-old Carson Palmer. Given that Palmer hinted at retirement all offseason, it’s entirely feasible 2017 will be his final NFL season, and Arizona hasn’t established a plan for the future. Drew Stanton and Blaine Gabbert aren’t realistic options to take over under center if Palmer does hang up his cleats after the upcoming campaign, so it’s possible the Cardinals would have floated a Day 2 selection in order to land a long-term successor like McCarron. General manager Steve Keim hasn’t been afraid to trade draft picks in the past, although his other significant deal — sending a second-rounder to the Patriots for edge rusher Chandler Jones — was a win-now move. McCarron’s 2014 NFL.com draft profile noted his lack of a “big-time, vertical arm,” which would theoretically present a problem in a Bruce Arians offense.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills hemmed and hawed on whether to retain incumbent signal-caller Tyrod Taylor, and though it appeared as though he’d hit free agency, Taylor ultimately agreed to a short-term pact that will keep him Buffalo through the 2018 season. While McCarron would seemingly fit in new play-caller Rick Dennison‘s offense, the timeline of the Bills’ front office turnover makes it unlikely they were involved in McCarron trade discussions. Buffalo reached a new deal with Taylor just prior to the start of the 2017 league year in early March, and former general manager Doug Whaley was fired two months later. Targeting another quarterback just after working out a fresh pact with Taylor seems improbable, and Buffalo’s ownership wouldn’t have let a lame duck like Whaley make such a franchise-altering decision.
Chicago Bears
While the Bears were never linked to McCarron, they were interested in trading for another high-profile backup quarterback — the Patriots’ Jimmy Garoppolo. Rival clubs didn’t believe Chicago would be forced to part with its No. 3 overall pick in order to land Garoppolo, as a package of multiple second-round selections was thought to be enough to get a deal done. Clearly, that view was misguided in regards to Garoppolo’s availability, but the Bears were obviously willing to ship away draft choices in order to bring in a passer. Ultimately, Chicago not only signed free agent Mike Glennon, but sent a bevy of picks to the 49ers in order to move up one spot in the first round for UNC’s Mitch Trubisky. Sending a second-rounder to Cincinnati for McCarron, then, wouldn’t have been out of the question.
Cleveland Browns
The one club known to have held McCarron trade talks with the Bengals is the Browns, who were reportedly discussing McCarron as late as the first day of the draft in April. However, negotiations between Cincinnati and Cleveland apparently didn’t get very far, as the Bengals were had assigned a high price tag to its backup quarterback. Based on familiarity alone, the Browns were an excellent fit for McCarron, as Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson was the Bengals’ offensive coordinator when McCarron entered the league in 2014. The Bengals didn’t seem to have any qualms about dealing McCarron to a division rival, and Cleveland seems like an obvious contender for the mystery team that offered Cincinnati a second-round pick, especially given that it owned two of them heading into the draft.
Denver Broncos
An armchair psychologist might say general manager John Elway‘s insistence that the Broncos are not currently trying to trade for McCarron (“150% false) is a bit on the defensive side, but even if Denver isn’t looking into McCarron at the moment, that doesn’t mean the club wasn’t interested in him earlier this year. Yes, the Broncos used a first-round pick on Paxton Lynch just a year ago, but reports on him and fellow quarterback Trevor Siemian haven’t been positive. Plus, Denver was linked to at least one signal-caller upgrade — veteran Tony Romo — this offseason, meaning the Broncos were willing to put Lynch and Siemian on the bench if a better option was discovered.
Houston Texans
One of the three clubs on this list that ultimately traded up to select a quarterback in the first round of the draft, the Texans are now set for the future with Clemson’s Deshaun Watson under center. But would they have been willing to ship a relatively early pick to the Bengals for McCarron before acquiring Watson? Possibly, although the fact that McCarron would likely need to be extended relatively quickly may have presented a problem. The Texans are staring at long-term deals for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, so cap space could quickly get tight. And after general manager Rick Smith whiffed on Brock Osweiler in 2016, Texans ownership may not have given approval for the front office to spend both draft pick capital and more cash on another unproven quarterback.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs actually selected another quarterback — Georgia’s Aaron Murray — one pick before McCarron came off the board to Cincinnati in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. But McCarron doesn’t look like a perfect fit for Kansas City, and like Houston, cap space problems would have likely come into play. The Chiefs are currently projected to be nearly $5MM over the cap in 2018, so extending or franchising McCarron would have possibly been untenable. As such, Kansas City needed the benefits of a rookie quarterback contract, and instead opted to trade up to acquire Patrick Mahomes out of Texas Tech.
New York Jets
Writing in early March, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com suggested the Jets may have looked into a possible Sheldon Richardson-for-McCarron trade, noting his belief that Cincinnati would have had to insert a draft pick to get a deal done. I completely disagree on that last point, as a quarterback — even a reserve — has more value than a unproductive edge rusher/defensive tackle (plus, Richardson is scheduled to earn nearly $8MM more than McCarron in 2017), the idea of Gang Green trading for McCarron wasn’t completely out of the question. New York isn’t trying to win during the upcoming season, however, and will limp through the campaign with Josh McCown, Bryce Petty, and Christian Hackenberg before presumably finding a quarterback in next year’s draft.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers are one of the more interesting clubs on this list, as new head coach Kyle Shanahan should be allowed to essentially handpick his quarterback of the future at this point. San Francisco signed free agents Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley, and drafted Iowa’s C.J. Beathard in the third round, but any talks regarding McCarron likely would have occurred before the 49ers made those moves. Still, the idea that San Francisco would have offered a second-round pick for McCarron seems unlikely for a few reasons. First, the Niners’ second-rounder was No. 34 overall, an extremely valuable draft choice, and second, San Francisco is probably holding off on adding a long-term quarterback until the 2018 free agent status of Kirk Cousins — Shanahan’s former pupil — is resolved.
What do you think? Did one of these clubs offer a second-round pick for McCarron? Or was it another unidentified team? Weigh in here:
