With the *official* start of free agency, the NFL’s game of quarterback musical chairs appears to have stopped. At least for the time being.
There were many quarterbacks circling the seats as of three days ago. Now with the start to free agency upon us, many of those seats have been taken. The question is, who’s left? And that goes for teams as well as quarterbacks.
Some spots were filled by free agents, some by trades. Those teams with uncertain quarterback situations included the Bears, Bengals, Buccaneers, Chargers, Colts, Dolphins, Panthers, Patriots, Raiders, Saints, and Titans.
Quarterbacks headed for free agency included Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Teddy Bridgewater, Ryan Tannehill, Marcus Mariota, and Jameis Winston.
Quarterbacks who were mentioned in trade rumors were Derek Carr, Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, and Nick Foles.
There was a lot of buzz and speculation of Carr and the Bears being a good match for a trade. Well, the Bears did trade for a QB, but it was for Nick Foles from the Jaguars in exchange for a 4th round pick. Thus ending that trade scenario.
Here’s who got whom after the first wave of free agency:
Panthers – Teddy Bridgewater
Bears – Nick Foles (trade)
Colts – Philip Rivers
Titans – Ryan Tannehill (re-signed)
Buccaneers – Tom Brady
Raiders – Marcus Mariota
Saints – Drew Brees (re-signed)
This leaves the Bengals, Dolphins, Chargers, Jaguars, and Patriots without a stable quarterback situation and the only free-agent quarterback out there worth mentioning is Jameis Winston. And teams clearly aren’t convinced they can eat Ws with him even after Lasik surgery.
It may not be a coincidence that the Bengals (No. 1), Dolphins (No. 5), Chargers (No. 6), and Jaguars (No. 9) all have top-ten draft picks they may be able to use on the quarterback position. The Jags may just figure they can go with Gardner Minshew and tank for Trevor (Lawrence). So, that just leaves the Patriots to figure out what to do in the post-Tom Brady era.
The Patriots could still draft a quarterback with their pick at No. 23, sure. Or if they like they could trade for one. The potential trade targets still out there are Derek Carr, Cam Newton, and Andy Dalton.
Carr is the only one of the three who could potentially co-exist in a competition with the quarterback their current team acquired. The Panthers have given Newton permission to seek a trade and Dalton is sure to be supplanted outright by Joe Burrow at the top pick.
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