No easy fit for faded NFL stars
Cost, circumstances will have to be right for Kaepernick, Cutler, Peterson
It is a week and a half into NFL free agency. Most of the hefty contracts that are going to be negotiated already have been handed out. No one has signed Colin Kaepernick, Jay Cutler or Adrian Peterson. And no one should be particularly surprised by that.
If Kaepernick or Cutler thought he was going to be the first choice for any quarterback-needy team, that was a miscalculation. If Peterson believed that teams were going to regard him as a still-dominant runner and a big-money player around which an offence can be built, he now should be in the process of becoming more realistic about the market.
There presumably will be jobs for all three. But it will take the right team, the right circumstances, the right price.
The Kaepernick situation is complicated, of course. Any interested team must make a decision about him as a player, trying to figure out if he can ever come close to the level he once reached as a Super Bowl starter for the San Francisco 49ers. There also is a potential decision to be made about the public-perception ramifications of signing Kaepernick after he refused to stand for the national anthem before games this past season to protest the treatment of African-Americans in the United States.
Executives with multiple teams said at the recent NFL scouting combine that Kaepernick’s political statement would have to be at least considered by any organization before a signing.
“Certainly it’s a factor,” an executive with one organization said then. “Everything is a factor, especially at that position. You take everything into consideration. That’s the face of your franchise, as they say.”
So is that the sole reason that Kaepernick has not been signed? Some observers say yes, pointing to the deals struck for some far-from-upper-tier quarterbacks. Geno Smith, for example, has lined up a deal with the New York Giants to back up Eli Manning.
But Joe Banner, the former executive for the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns who now is an NFL analyst for ESPN, wrote on Twitter last week he’s not convinced that Kaepernick is unsigned only because of his political statement. The quarterback market still is developing, Banner wrote.
“This is a backup QB one week into (free agency),” Banner wrote. “I am not convinced of the cause and effect.”
The number of starting jobs leaguewide is dwindling. The Chicago Bears signed Mike Glennon to replace Cutler. The 49ers signed Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley and perhaps could get by for a year if they think they cannot pry franchise-tagged quarterback Kirk Cousins from the Washington Redskins at this point.
The Browns remain in dire need but have been linked to a prospective trade for New England Patriots backup Jimmy Garoppolo or possibly one for Cousins; they also have the first and 12th overall choices in the NFL draft. Cutler’s name has been mentioned in connection with the New York Jets. But the Jets do have some options, even if they’re not all that attractive. They could sign free agent Josh McCown, who visited over the weekend. They could opt for Robert Griffin III, released after one season in Cleveland, or Chase Daniel, granted his release by the Eagles. They could attempt to trade for Cincinnati Bengals backup AJ McCarron. They could use the sixth pick in the draft on a quarterback and install that rookie as the immediate starter.
Peterson actually might have more possibilities. The Oakland Raiders need a running back after losing Latavius Murray, who signed with the Minnesota Vikings in the move that led general manager Rick Spielman to pronounce that Peterson indeed would be heading elsewhere. The Raiders have been linked to the retired Marshawn Lynch, but Lynch remains contractually tied to the Seattle Seahawks.
The Green Bay Packers need a replacement for Eddie Lacy, who signed with the Seahawks. There once was talk linking Peterson to the Giants, Houston Texans or Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Could the Patriots be a possibility?
The biggest deals in free agency are done. But some of the most interesting are still to come.