National Post (National Edition)
Nearly every NFL team has starting QB
So who will draft hotshot rookies Murray, Haskins?
After effectively four days of NFL free agency, guess how many teams are left with a vacancy at starting quarterback? One.
Can you believe that?
It’s the Miami Dolphins, at least once they get around to getting rid of Ryan Tannehill — whose inability to pan out as the No. 8 overall draft pick in 2012 has now doomed the jobs of two GMS and two head coaches.
The Dolphins are bereft of a starting passer, after swinging and missing Thursday in trying to lure Teddy Bridgewater from New Orleans; he re-signed to be Drew Brees’ backup for one more year, for US$7.25 million.
But other than Miami, who the heck is going to draft Kyler Murray and Dwayne Haskins — just about everybody’s top two draft-class QBS — late next month?! Good question, eh?
When you do the drill, you discover that, suddenly, nearly every NFL team is settled at QB, with a starter more or less locked in for 2019. To wit:
AFC East: New England, Tom Brady; Miami, undecided; Buffalo, Josh Allen; N.Y. Jets, Sam Darnold.
AFC North: Baltimore, Lamar Jackson; Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger; Cleveland, Baker Mayfield; Cincinnati, Andy Dalton.
AFC South: Houston, Deshaun Watson; Indianapolis, Andrew Luck; Tennessee, Marcus Mariota; Jacksonville, Nick Foles (acquired this week). AFC West: Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes; L.A. Chargers, Philip Rivers; Denver, Joe Flacco (acquired this week); Oakland, Derek Carr.
NFC East: Dallas, Dak Prescott; Philadelphia, Carson Wentz; Washington, Case Keenum (acquired this week) or Alex Smith; N.Y. Giants, Eli Manning.
NFC North: Chicago, Mitchell Trubisky; Minnesota, Kirk Cousins; Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers; Detroit, Matthew Stafford.
NFC South: New Orleans, Drew Brees; Carolina, Cam Newton; Atlanta, Matt Ryan; Tampa Bay, Jameis Winston.
NFC West: L.A. Rams, Jared Goff; Seattle, Russell Wilson; San Francisco, Jimmy Garoppolo; Arizona, Josh Rosen.
Which teams might be likeliest to dump their starter to try to draft Murray or Haskins? (understand, nobody in the NFL drafts a QB in the top half of the first round any more and parks him on the bench, to slowly learn behind some bride QB). Speculation has pointed mostly at the Dolphins, Cardinals, Giants, Raiders and Redskins. And perhaps the Broncos.
That is, those teams probably have the QBS with the flimsiest holds on a starting job: secondyear Rosen in Arizona, lame-duck Eli Manning (38 years old) in New York, sixth-year Derek Carr (nearly 28) in Oakland, and Keenum (31) or Smith (34) in Washington. And perhaps Flacco (34) in Denver.
Now let’s look at where those teams pick in Round 1 on April 25 in Nashville: Arizona, No. 1; Oakland, No. 4; Giants, No. 6; Denver, No. 10; Miami, No. 13, and Washington, No. 15
If the Giants, Broncos, Dolphins or Redskins suspect both the Cardinals and Raiders will grab Murray and Haskins — in whichever order within the first four picks — they’d better try to trade up, and fast, before one of the others does.
San Francisco picks No. 2 and the New York Jets No. 3.
If either of those clubs trades down with the Giants, Broncos, Dolphins or Redskins, you don’t need to guess why. COVINGTON TO DALLAS: Interior defensive lineman Christian Cov- ington of Vancouver is changing NFL teams, but remaining in Texas. The 25-year-old agreed to terms on a one-year free-agent deal Thursday with the Dallas Cowboys, after spending his first four NFL seasons with the Houston Texans. He sure must like Texas, because the son of Canadian Football Hall-of-famer Grover Covington attended Rice University in Houston. The Texans drafted him in the sixth round in 2015.
OTHER SIGNINGS: With most blockbuster deals done, the bignews free-agency signings dwindled to a trickle on Thursday.
The biggest, it says here, was WR Golden Tate spurning the New England Patriots for the New York Giants, per reports. Tate seemed exactly the kind of late-career, sure-handed veteran receiver that would have thrived in the Patriots’ attack with Tom Brady at the helm.
Instead, Tate — who signed for US$37.5 million over four years, per ESPN — has to hope Manning can get him the ball more often than just two or three dozen times in 2019, as Manning auto-checkdowns to Saquon Barkley 7-12 times a game.
The Patriots waved goodbye to another one of their own promising defenders looking for a huge second contract, when Malcom Brown agreed to a three-year deal in New Orleans.
In other deals, Seattle nabbed a great placekicker in Jason Myers, formerly of the New York Jets and Jacksonville. Also, Chicago agreed to terms with safety Ha Ha ClintonDix (formerly of arch-rival Green Bay), San Francisco did likewise with cornerback Jason Verrett (formerly of the Chargers), Pittsburgh signed receiver Donte Moncrief (Jacksonville) to a two-year deal, guard Mike Iupati (Arizona) signed in Seattle, and WR Desean Jackson inked a new three-year contract with Philadelphia a day after officially being traded from Tampa Bay.