The wild-card game of the weekend is between the Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles. Two former Cardinals are on each team.
Seahawks WR Jaron Brown
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Brown was with the Cardinals five years after signing as an undrafted rookie out of Clemson. He is in his second season with the Seahawks. He had 16 catches this year for 220 yards and two touchdowns.
He is questionable for the game on Sunday with a knee injury.
Now, let’s add another fun fact to the mix: with the Eagles down to two healthy wideouts in Monday’s overtime win over the New York Giants, he was getting ready to play wide receiver.
I was ready to go,” McCown told NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark. “We had the helmet ready to go. The equipment guys were all over it. Had the radio-less helmet because you can’t have two green dots on the field at the same time.”
The funny thing is … he’s done that before.
Back in 2006, in a Detroit Lions game against the New England Patriots, he was a pretty good wideout:
Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Carson Wentz is day to day with a hand injury
The Philadelphia Eagles received some good news on Monday morning when head coach Doug Pederson provided an update on quarterback Carson Wentz. According to Ian Rapoport, Wentz is dealing with a bruised middle finger but it should be good to go for the matchup with Miami.
#Eagles coach Doug Pederson tells reporters that QB Carson Wentz has a bruise on his throwing hand, near the middle finger, and that he should be fine to practice and play this week.
Carson Wentz leaves game vs. Seahawks to be evaluated
Philadelphia’s worst fears have been realized again, as quarterback Carson Wentz was forced to leave the teams game against the Seahawks to be evaluated.
Wentz just ran to the tunnel, which to me would indicate he wants to get something fixed and come back, but who knows he could be headed for North Dakota, nothing is going to surprise me at this point
It appears Wentz may have suffered a hand injury on the botched handoff between him and Miles Sanders that led to a Seattle fumble recovery and return. Josh McCown will enter the game for Wentz if he misses any plays.
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Update
Wentz is throwing on the sideline.
…If Chris Carson didn't convert that third-and-1 earlier this drive, could have been Josh McCown going into the game. But Wentz is throwing now.
Touchdown Wire ranks the 32 NFL teams in terms of stability and potential at the game’s most important position over the next 3-4 seasons.
Tom Brady might be the best quarterback ever, but he’s not the best in the NFL right now. He certainly won’t be the best in 2022.
He’s human, after all, and at age 42, regression is inevitable even for someone with six Super Bowl rings. That puts the New England Patriots in an uncertain situation at quarterback two or three years down the road. The New Orleans Saints, with 40-year-old Drew Brees under center, find themselves in a similar scenario.
Other teams, such as the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers, likely will face difficult personnel decisions at the quarterback position much sooner than that. Only a handful of teams, notably the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, appear secure in their quarterback situation for years to come.
All this got us thinking about the quarterback situations of the future — and where each of the NFL’s 32 teams ranks in terms of preparedness at the game’s most crucial position.
By quarterback situations, we mean the full overview of each team’s quarterbacks group, including backups and a potential succession plan, if necessary. For this exercise, we will define the future as three to four years down the road.
To help form these opinions, we consulted with a blue-ribbon panel of one former head coach, two former general managers and one current general manager. They were asked for their thoughts on each team’s quarterback situation. They provided insight to inform our rankings.
With that in mind, we present Touchdown Wire’s future quarterback rankings for every NFL team, from worst to first:
32. Miami Dolphins
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Earlier this season, many observers accused the Dolphins of tanking to earn the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and presumably select a quarterback. Since then, Miami (2-8) has been eclipsed by the ineptitude of Cincinnati (0-10) and Washington (1-9), so the Dolphins might not get the first QB off the board. Currently, the Dolphins have Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen on their roster. Rosen has failed in his playing time. There’s no way he’ll be back next year. The Dolphins have the option to hang onto Fitzpatrick, 36, who’s currently under contract next season at $5.5 million. It makes sense to keep Fitzpatrick around for one more year to help groom a young quarterback. That could be LSU’s Joe Burrow, Alabama’s Tua Tagavailoa (although his recent hip injury now complicates his draft status), Oregon’s Justin Herbert or Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts. Two members of my panel said they like Burrow better than Tagovailoa. Either way, it’s going to take some time to develop a young quarterback.
31. Chicago Bears
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For the moment, Mitchell Trubisky is Chicago’s starting quarterback. But it doesn’t appear that he will be in that role next year — although he remains under contract and the team holds a fifth-year option on the No. 2 overall pick from 2017. Given his level of play this season, it’s highly unlikely he will receive the option year, and he might not even see 2020 with the Bears — although the cap hit for cutting him would be slightly more than $9 million. The Bears are 4-6 after going 12-4 last year. There’s one main reason for the decline. That’s Trubisky. My panelists say he’s holding the offense back and could end up keeping a good team out of the playoffs. All four panelists agree Trubisky should be nothing more than a backup. Current backup Chase Daniel’s contract expires after this season. So there’s no telling who will be Chicago’s quarterback next year. Maybe the Bears will draft a quarterback. But with a talented roster already in place, the Bears should be first in line to sign New Orleans backup Teddy Bridgewater as a free agent.
30. Cincinnati Bengals
David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Veteran Andy Dalton has been benched, and the Bengals are giving rookie fourth-rounder Ryan Finley a shot. There should be no turning back to Dalton, even though he remains under contract for 2020 with a $17.5 million scheduled salary. The Bengals can cut Dalton after the season without any salary cap ramifications. It’s too early to judge Finley. Cincinnati is going to end up with an early draft pick and could have a shot at Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Jalen Hurts. The Bengals will be starting over. But, given their current state, that’s not a bad thing. “Dalton had more than enough time and couldn’t win consistently,” one panelist said. “I have no idea what they have in Finley. But they have to draft a quarterback if they’re sitting there at No. 1 or 2.”
29. Washington Redskins
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The current situation is a mess. Veterans Colt McCoy and Case Keenum, who clearly aren’t the answer, each is in the last year of their contract. The Redskins have little choice but to play rookie Dwayne Haskins, who has five interceptions and two touchdown passes, the rest of this season. Call it an audition for Haskins. But this situation is complicated because the Redskins currently have interim coach Bill Callahan, who took over when Jay Gruden was fired. There will be a new coach next year, and he might not like Haskins. With an early draft pick likely, the new coach might want his own guy. Give up on Haskins after only one season? Arizona did it with 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen after drafting Kyler Murray. All four of our panelists said Haskins was overrated when he was drafted.
