Free Agent Quarterbacks – Syndication Server

3 affordable free agent quarterback options available for Raiders

With Derek Carr finding his new home, here are 3 sensible options to take his old job in Las Vegas

With a week until free agency, Derek Carr found a new home, signing with the Saints. That answers the quarterback question for the Saints. But what of Carr’s former team?

The Raiders have known since December that they were going to be in the market at quarterback. And as they currently have just second-year undrafted Chase Garbers under contract, they will be looking to add multiple quarterbacks to the mix.

Recently head coach Josh McDaniels said as much, adding that he would looking to add both a veteran as well as to the draft to fill the position needs.

If they truly plan to use the draft to add at least one of their quarterbacks, then they would use free agency to cover themselves in case none of their top choices are there when they pick at seven overall.

With that in mind, there are a few quarterbacks who could fit the bill as a potential starter who could compete with whomever they draft or be a temporary solution.

Jimmy Garoppolo

A lot of people would be less than thrilled with Jimmy G as QB of the Raiders. He has underachieved the past few seasons in San Francisco and has three times finished the season on injured reserve.

Garoppolo is not considered an upgrade for fellow 2014 round two pick Derek Carr. But it’s important to remember that even if Garoppolo’s skillset may not be on Carr’s level, his fit with Josh McDaniels is what matters most.

McDaniels was the OC in New England when the Patriots drafted Garoppolo and spent three years in his offense. And even with just a couple starts, he showed enough for the 49ers to acquire him in trade. The 49ers kept Garoppolo as insurance even after drafting Trey Lance. The Raiders could do the same.

Jacoby Brissett

Brissett was also a Patriots draft pick. He was chosen in the third round in 2016 and was traded after one season in New England to the Colts. In seven NFL seasons with four different teams, Brissett has 63 total TDs with just 23 interceptions.

Brissett is definitely the most mobile of the options, which would add a dynamic to the Raiders offensive attack they haven’t really had much of in recent years. His 15 rushing TD’s is more than Derek Carr (6), Jimmy Garoppolo (7) and Jarrett Stidham (0) combined over their entire careers (13) and his 11.8 yards per game is more than Carr (6.0) and Garoppolo (3.0) combined.

Mobility could be important when you consider most of their options at the top of this draft are mobile quarterbacks. So, they wouldn’t have to change the playbook regardless of who is in at quarterback.

Jarrett Stidham

And we go three-for-three in free agent quarterback who have played in McDaniels’s offense. Stidham has done it with two different teams. The former Patriots fourth round pick signed with the Raiders last year and ended up starting the final two games of the season.

Stidham showed great command of McDaniels’s offense in his first start, throwing three touchdowns and helping the Raiders put up 34 points on the 49ers’ top rated defense. He then struggled in the finale against the ultimate Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

It could be a good idea to bring him back if he’s open to it. He would be the cheapest option of the three here.

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Notre Dame in NFL: Chicago Bears bringing in former Notre Dame QB for workout

The Chicago Bears are bringing in a former Notre Dame quarterback to possibly try and solve their massive issues at the position. Details:

The Chicago Bears have gone from the NFC North’s penthouse to laughing stock as their 5-1 start was erased in the last month as they’ve dropped four straight in falling to 5-5.

Starting quarterback to start the year Mitchell Trubisky was benched in favor of Nick Foles but with injuries to both, the Bears are indeed perhaps looking to bring in another quarterback to try and help solve their massive offensive issues.

Field Yates of ESPN reported on Tuesday that the Bears, who are on their bye week, will be bringing in former Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer for a tryout.

With Nick Foles and Mitch Trubisky banged up, the Bears are bringing in QB DeShone Kizer for a tryout.

Chicago is currently on its bye.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 18, 2020

Kizer was a second round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017 but struggled mightily as they lost all 15 of his starts that season.

Kizer was then traded to Green Bay where he backed up Aaron Rodgers in 2018 and played in three games. He has not however played in any NFL games since despite spending 2019 as a member of the Raiders.

For his NFL career, Kizer has 11 touchdown passes and 24 interceptions. Stay tuned to see if he’ll get the opportunity to try and turn around his professional career and the Bears offensive woes.

The biggest need for every NFL team going into 2020 free agency

With free agency just around the corner, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar breaks down every NFL team’s biggest need.

With the new league year turning over on March 18, and the draft a little more than a month after that starting April 23, each NFL team is about to start a series of prime positions to improve their rosters as much as their front offices and salary cap situations will allow.

With that in mind, here’s the primary need for every NFL franchise heading into the busiest part of the offseason. (All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions).

AFC East

Buffalo Bills: Another quality receiver

Last season, John Brown might have been the NFL’s most underrated receiver. The former Cardinals and Ravens target signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Bills before the 2019 season and became an immediate staple for quarterback Josh Allen, with 72 catches on 115 targets for 1,060 yards and six touchdowns — all career highs. Slot receiver Cole Beasley is also entrenched well in that role, but if Allen is to take the proverbial next step — and that’s still a question — the Bills will need another productive outside receiver, especially in the deep passing game. Brown was targeted 27 times on passes of 20 or more air yards last season, catching 10 of those passes for 332 yards and four touchdowns. The rest of Buffalo’s receiver corps was targeted 27 times on deep throws, catching three passes for 117 yards and no touchdowns. Allen’s erratic passes had something to do with that, but it would certainly help to add another credible deep threat.

Miami Dolphins: A functional offensive line

After major trades with the Steelers and Texans, the Dolphins have three first-round picks (the fifth, 18th, and 26th), and the clout to trade up if they want to. One thing they must do is to improve a run game that was so inept after trading Kenyan Drake to the Cardinals in October, 37-year-old quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick led the team in rushing — with 243 yards. Ouch. Paramount to getting that ground game going will be the necessary addition of several quality offensive linemen.

Left tackle Julie’n Davenport, acquired in the trade of left tackle Laremy Tunsil and receiver Kenny Stills to Houston, allowed six sacks and 31 total pressures on just 389 pass-blocking snaps. Swing tackle J’Marcus Webb gave up seven sacks and 39 total pressures on 372 pass-blocking snaps. Nobody was immune from this O-line disaster, and it’s reasonable to say that if Miami had four or five new starters up front, it’d be for the best. That’s not great for continuity, which is generally important for an offensive line, but this is not the kind of continuity one wants. The Doophins have all these value picks and $88,075,174 in current cap space; here’s where they should spend a lot of that capital.

New England Patriots: A replacement for the greatest quarterback in NFL history

We don’t yet know what is in Tom Brady’s future. After 20 years with the Patriots, during which time he picked up six Super Bowl rings and established himself as perhaps the greatest quarterback ever, Brady might be on the move for the first time in his NFL career. What really makes this interesting is that if Brady does move on as a free agent, it leaves Bill Belichick with options he hasn’t ever had at the position. The expansion of college concepts into the NFL, and the sea changes in the requirements for the quarterback position at the NFL level, has to have Belichick wondering what he could do with the next Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, or Lamar Jackson.

Belichick gave the Texans a little taste of that concept back in 2016, when Brady was suspended for the first four games of the season over the DeflateGate scandal, then-backup Jimmy Garoppolo got injured, and the Patriots put then-backup Jacoby Brissett on the field against Houston in Week 3 as an option quarterback. The Texans had very little idea what to do with that in a 27-0 loss, and you know Belichick has stored that away in his brain just like everything else that’s happened in pro football over the last 60 years. What would the Pats’ offense look like with the kind of quarterback they’ve never had before? A positive answer to that question might just ease the sting of a possible Brady departure.

New York Jets: A new offensive line

Second-year Jets quarterback Sam Darnold showed improvement in most aspects in 2019, despite a bout with mononucleosis, a relative lack of top-end targets and protection up front that wouldn’t pass muster among most SEC teams. The 2019 Jets allowed 24 sacks and 188 total pressures on just 584 passing snaps, and while Darnold performed fairly well under pressure (10 of his 19 touchdowns and eight of his 13 picks came when rushed from the pocket), Options B and C in the persons of Luke Falk and Trevor Siemian last season proved that the Jets’ offense will go only as far as Darnold can take it. To that end, new general manager Joe Douglas, a highly-respected personnel man around the league, needs to do a lot about that offensive line. Upgrading from left tackle Brandon Shell (seven sacks and 42 pressures allowed) and swing tackle Chuma Edoga (six sacks and 22 pressures allowed on just 270 pass-blocking snaps) would be a good start, but honestly, Douglas could go full Roto-Rooter on this line and possibly land better results.

Which, based on what Douglas said at the scouting combine, could easily happen.

“Look, you guys know how I feel about the offensive line. It’s hard to have a good team without one. Right now, as it stands, we only have one opening-day starter coming back under contract: [Guard] Brian Winters. Everyone else is an unrestricted free agent. We’re at 21 UFAs [unrestricted free agents] and three RFAs [restricted free agents]. So we have to improve not only offensive line by many other positions.”

True, but the offensive line is the place to start.

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