Kaepernick and RG3: Is There Anything Left?

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Elmgrovegnome

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One of my closest friends is Seattle born and a Seahawks fan. She texted me yesterday that the Rams signed Kaepernick. She was giving me the LOL's and talking about what a fun season I am going to have. She did a good job selling it. I was searching for any info regarding it, in between texting her. I was in shock and disbelieve because it made no sense.

She got me good. I am so happy it was just a prank.
 

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  • #63
By the way, any word on what Case Keenum is doing these days?
Maybe he's been busy "fishing" in Montana with Jeff Fisher

No, nothing yet. But here's an article on why he was let go.

http://theramswire.usatoday.com/2017/03/20/los-angeles-rams-case-keenum-free-agency-2016-struggles/

Case Keenum was among least accurate quarterbacks in NFL for the Rams
By: Bryan Kalbrosky

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Case Keenum was the league’s leader in batted passes thrown last season. That explains why he was so futile.

This was based on quarterbacks who had over 200 passing attempts in 2016. Pro Football Focus notes that Keenum, an upcoming free agent, had 3.7% of his attempts batted last season.

As we all remember, Keenum eventually lost his starting job to rookie Jared Goff.


View: https://twitter.com/PFF/status/843891436173049858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheramswire.usatoday.com%2F2017%2F03%2F20%2Flos-angeles-rams-case-keenum-free-agency-2016-struggles%2F

Not only did he have a lot of batted passes, Keenum had a negative touchdown-to-interception ratio as well.

He was in the bottom-ten for completion percentage and yards per attempt.

According to Sporting Charts, Keenum was also in the bottom ten among quarterbacks with at least 200 passing attempts for highest dropped passes percentage.

It’s safe to say that, for many reasons, the former Rams quarterback had trouble completing passes for Los Angeles in 2016. Don’t expect him to return to the Rams in 2017.


View: https://twitter.com/clevezirm/status/843857856919224326?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheramswire.usatoday.com%2F2017%2F03%2F20%2Flos-angeles-rams-case-keenum-free-agency-2016-struggles%2F
 

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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/03/21/nfl-jay-cutler-free-agent-quarterback

Has Jay Cutler Thrown His Last Pass?
He still has a rifle arm, but the free-agent quarterback is facing a soft market and an uncertain future
by Andy Benoit

jay-cutler-free-agent-quarterback.jpg

Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

No quarterback over the past 10 years has been a bigger tease than Jay Cutler. That may seem like a totally negative statement. It’s not. Not totally. To be a tease, you must have something that appears enticing.

For Cutler, it’s his almost unparalleled arm strength, his uncanny feel for touch passes in the 18-to-25-yard range, and his athleticism, which is better than what first meets the eye. And despite his utterly unfair and unfounded reputation for being soft, he’s one of the league’s toughest QBs. Few passers man up in the pocket better than he does.

The problem is that toughness doesn’t always keep you healthy. And here is where Cutler’s “yeah buts” roll in. He’s missed 25 games over the last seven years due to injury. Also, that arm strength can be the impetus to attempting throws that are too risky. Or, the arm strength can be sabotaged by sloppy mechanics, leading to inaccuracy.

Cutler’s flaws have been just spotty enough that coach after coach has believed they’ll soon disappear. But they haven’t, save for maybe 2015, when Cutler played for offensive coordinator Adam Gase, who committed strongly to a quick-strike passing game that engendered disciplined quarterbacking.

No other coach has channeled Cutler’s immense talent. And based on his current ongoing unemployment, it appears no other coach is willing to try. They see Cutler, who turns 34 next month, for what he really is: a supremely talented but ultimately unstable starting quarterback. Unfortunately for Cutler, 2017 is bearing no market for someone like this.

Cutler could be a veteran QB who builds a bridge toward a team’s future, similar to Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has been a bridge for several years and is essentially a poor man’s Cutler. But, fair or unfair, Cutler’s reputation is one defined by surliness. Even if this is untrue—and many coaches I know who have had Cutler say it is—it’s a perception that has held long enough to shape his reality.

Teams would rather bridge with a quarterback who they believe is invested in his future replacement’s success. That’s why the Jets just signed Cutler’s former backup, 37-year-old Josh McCown. He’s widely regarded as one of the NFL’s good guys. Plus, McCown’s traits are less extreme; he’s worse than Cutler at throwing the ball but better at protecting it. He is, in other words, a prototypical bridge QB.

Cutler is also facing a market with limited demand. With McCown now a Jet, only four teams have immediate needs at quarterback: San Francisco, Cleveland, Houston and Denver. The Niners can be ruled out; they are in the midst a long-term rebuilding project and just signed every 2016 Bears QB except Cutler (that’d be Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley).

The Browns, staring down an even longer-term project, have their pick of any QB in this draft and can afford to play him sooner rather than later because the signings of guard Kevin Zeitler and center J.C. Tretter give them a formidable O-line.

One complication, however, is that many feel none of the quarterbacks in this draft are equipped to play in 2017. But that’s where Cleveland’s younger incumbent backup, Cody Kessler, could step in. Or, if no other trade develops, their new overpriced backup, Brock Osweiler.

The Texans present the best opportunity, but they’ll likely make a run at the best available veteran QB, Tony Romo (whenever he actually becomes available). If that doesn’t happen, would GM Rick Smith and coach Bill O’Brien consider signing Cutler to play opposite their Super Bowl-caliber defense? Cutler certainly offers the most talent and experience after Romo.

However, he’s never been a disciplined full-field reader, which doesn’t bode well for directing an expansive scheme such as O’Brien’s. A lot hinges on how the Texans truly feel about Tom Savage. He’s been in the system since 2014 and has an NFL arm. Does this outweigh the plusses of taking a risk with Cutler? The Texans brass has been with Savage every day—only they would know.

One young QB whom Cutler would likely not supplant is Trevor Siemian. The 2015 seventh-round pick was not the reason Denver’s offense struggled last year. (A deficient running game was.) The Broncos, like the Texans, have a Super Bowl-quality defense.

But GM John Elway’s track record suggests that if he felt the offense needed a veteran QB to play opposite this D, he would have found one last year. (Instead he drafted Paxton Lynch in the first round.)

The writing is on the wall, and it says that if Cutler wants to continue his NFL career, it’ll have to be as a backup—at least in 2017. This introduces a whole other set of questions, the first being, Would Cutler even want this? The answer should be yes. Cutler is what he is.

But he isn’t washed-up. If he can find a team that runs a system like Gase’s, which is both quick-timed and aggressive, he could be a short-term No. 2. In some cases, he might even be positioned to challenge a young, slower-developing QB for playing time. And if he signs a one-year deal, he can try the market again next year.

Cutler should be in no hurry to sign. With no good options available, he might as well wait and see if the landscape changes instead of rushing to become someone’s backup. (The Vikings learned last summer with Teddy Bridgewater that jobs do open up late.)

If it doesn’t change, at least Cutler will have had time to identify the least stable quarterback situations around the league. That’ll dictate where he goes—assuming he wants to.
 

Mojo Ram

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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/03/21/nfl-jay-cutler-free-agent-quarterback

Has Jay Cutler Thrown His Last Pass?
He still has a rifle arm, but the free-agent quarterback is facing a soft market and an uncertain future
by Andy Benoit

jay-cutler-free-agent-quarterback.jpg

Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

No quarterback over the past 10 years has been a bigger tease than Jay Cutler. That may seem like a totally negative statement. It’s not. Not totally. To be a tease, you must have something that appears enticing.

For Cutler, it’s his almost unparalleled arm strength, his uncanny feel for touch passes in the 18-to-25-yard range, and his athleticism, which is better than what first meets the eye. And despite his utterly unfair and unfounded reputation for being soft, he’s one of the league’s toughest QBs. Few passers man up in the pocket better than he does.

The problem is that toughness doesn’t always keep you healthy. And here is where Cutler’s “yeah buts” roll in. He’s missed 25 games over the last seven years due to injury. Also, that arm strength can be the impetus to attempting throws that are too risky. Or, the arm strength can be sabotaged by sloppy mechanics, leading to inaccuracy.

Cutler’s flaws have been just spotty enough that coach after coach has believed they’ll soon disappear. But they haven’t, save for maybe 2015, when Cutler played for offensive coordinator Adam Gase, who committed strongly to a quick-strike passing game that engendered disciplined quarterbacking.

No other coach has channeled Cutler’s immense talent. And based on his current ongoing unemployment, it appears no other coach is willing to try. They see Cutler, who turns 34 next month, for what he really is: a supremely talented but ultimately unstable starting quarterback. Unfortunately for Cutler, 2017 is bearing no market for someone like this.

Cutler could be a veteran QB who builds a bridge toward a team’s future, similar to Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has been a bridge for several years and is essentially a poor man’s Cutler. But, fair or unfair, Cutler’s reputation is one defined by surliness. Even if this is untrue—and many coaches I know who have had Cutler say it is—it’s a perception that has held long enough to shape his reality.

Teams would rather bridge with a quarterback who they believe is invested in his future replacement’s success. That’s why the Jets just signed Cutler’s former backup, 37-year-old Josh McCown. He’s widely regarded as one of the NFL’s good guys. Plus, McCown’s traits are less extreme; he’s worse than Cutler at throwing the ball but better at protecting it. He is, in other words, a prototypical bridge QB.

Cutler is also facing a market with limited demand. With McCown now a Jet, only four teams have immediate needs at quarterback: San Francisco, Cleveland, Houston and Denver. The Niners can be ruled out; they are in the midst a long-term rebuilding project and just signed every 2016 Bears QB except Cutler (that’d be Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley).

The Browns, staring down an even longer-term project, have their pick of any QB in this draft and can afford to play him sooner rather than later because the signings of guard Kevin Zeitler and center J.C. Tretter give them a formidable O-line.

One complication, however, is that many feel none of the quarterbacks in this draft are equipped to play in 2017. But that’s where Cleveland’s younger incumbent backup, Cody Kessler, could step in. Or, if no other trade develops, their new overpriced backup, Brock Osweiler.

The Texans present the best opportunity, but they’ll likely make a run at the best available veteran QB, Tony Romo (whenever he actually becomes available). If that doesn’t happen, would GM Rick Smith and coach Bill O’Brien consider signing Cutler to play opposite their Super Bowl-caliber defense? Cutler certainly offers the most talent and experience after Romo.

However, he’s never been a disciplined full-field reader, which doesn’t bode well for directing an expansive scheme such as O’Brien’s. A lot hinges on how the Texans truly feel about Tom Savage. He’s been in the system since 2014 and has an NFL arm. Does this outweigh the plusses of taking a risk with Cutler? The Texans brass has been with Savage every day—only they would know.

One young QB whom Cutler would likely not supplant is Trevor Siemian. The 2015 seventh-round pick was not the reason Denver’s offense struggled last year. (A deficient running game was.) The Broncos, like the Texans, have a Super Bowl-quality defense.

But GM John Elway’s track record suggests that if he felt the offense needed a veteran QB to play opposite this D, he would have found one last year. (Instead he drafted Paxton Lynch in the first round.)

The writing is on the wall, and it says that if Cutler wants to continue his NFL career, it’ll have to be as a backup—at least in 2017. This introduces a whole other set of questions, the first being, Would Cutler even want this? The answer should be yes. Cutler is what he is.

But he isn’t washed-up. If he can find a team that runs a system like Gase’s, which is both quick-timed and aggressive, he could be a short-term No. 2. In some cases, he might even be positioned to challenge a young, slower-developing QB for playing time. And if he signs a one-year deal, he can try the market again next year.

Cutler should be in no hurry to sign. With no good options available, he might as well wait and see if the landscape changes instead of rushing to become someone’s backup. (The Vikings learned last summer with Teddy Bridgewater that jobs do open up late.)

If it doesn’t change, at least Cutler will have had time to identify the least stable quarterback situations around the league. That’ll dictate where he goes—assuming he wants to.
My boy Fales is now the backup to Mike Glennon in Chicago. Opportunity is lurking...
 

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  • #66
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...-kaepernicks-unemployment-not-about-football/

Richard Sherman: Kaepernick’s unemployment not about football
Posted by Michael David Smith on March 25, 2017

180664809-e1490435308510.jpg
Getty Images

Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman thinks Colin Kaepernick’s inability to find a team is entirely about his national anthem protest.

“There was a year Matt Schaub had a pretty rough year and got signed the next year. So it has nothing to do with football,” Sherman said on ESPN. “You can see that. They signed guys who have had off years before.”

The idea that football has “nothing” to do with Kaepernick’s inability to find a job just doesn’t carry any water. If Sherman thinks Kaepernick’s unemployment is solely about the anthem protest, then how does Sherman explain the tepid interest in Kaepernick when the 49ers made him available for trade last year, before the anthem protest?

Kaepernick has undeniably declined significantly as a player since he burst onto the scene as the 49ers’ starter in 2012. Over the last two seasons, Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert have shared time in San Francisco and played approximately equally well, and Gabbert hasn’t been able to find a job, either.

But it’s also undeniable that a lot of NFL owners, general managers and coaches are conservative people who disagree with Kaepernick’s protest. It’s certainly possible that some of those people would be willing to look past Kaepernick’s on-field struggles but aren’t willing to look past his anthem protest, or his off-field political advocacy.

Sherman thinks Kaepernick is still better than most starting quarterbacks in the league.

“You don’t have 32 starting-level quarterbacks in this league,” Sherman said. “You have about eight elites, and then you have the rest of the league. You have about eight, nine elite quarterbacks. You have two or three who have the potential to be elite. And then you have the rest of the teams.

So he could play and start on a ton of teams in this league. He would be a starter on probably 20 of the teams in this league. But you’re telling me that you’re going to let other guys, you’re going to pick up some of these other guys and tell me that they’re starters?”

If Kaepernick were really better than 20 teams’ starting quarterbacks, it’s hard to believe not a single one of those teams would be willing to sign him. But Kaepernick is surely at least one of the 64 best quarterbacks in the NFL, which means he should at least be able to get a job as a backup. Yet he remains unemployed.
 

jrry32

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Houston or Denver should grab Cutler.
 

den-the-coach

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Sometimes I think I should stop posting because @jrry32 is in my head...Jay Cutler in Denver or Houston would be an upgrade so where ever Romo lands Cutler will go to the other team. I actually feel television would be great for Romo, but that will always be there and I am sure he does not want to go out that way.

So Jay Cutler to one of those two teams and onto our good friend and social magnet Colin Rand Kaepernick, my wife believes he never intended to start this not standing during the National Anthem, she believes the first time he just forgot and then had to come up with something when he was asked. Regardless I still think he has the talent to be a very good back up and if I needed a back-up I would sign the guy, but he will come with drama so IMO a place like Buffalo or Jacksonville would make sense to be under the radar, but some team will sign him IMHO as a number 2 because he is better than the Scott Tolzien's (Colts) and the Chad Henne's (Jags) of the world, IMHO.

RGIII is in the most trouble from a durability stand point, caveat emptor if you will with him and I would not consider signing him at this point, but if Houston does not land Romo or Cutler I could see them signing RGIII (backing up Tom Savage) trying to rebut Thomas Wolfe's philosophy so not sure how it will play out, but one would surmise once Romo decides the rest will follow because I don't believe any will be out of football although Kaepernick sure makes it easy not to like him, which is fine with me because I never did, but I work with many individuals who are fantastic at their craft, that I don't actually like very much with most of them being Lawyers with my humblest apologies to our very own Counselor at law in @jrry32 .;)
 
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  • #75
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ick-wants-a-chance-to-start-and-9-10-million/

Report: Kaepernick wants a chance to start, and $9-10 million
Posted by Michael David Smith on March 28, 2017

ap_162401228173901-e1472502798613.jpg
AP

Is Colin Kaepernick still unemployed because his asking price is too high?

That’s the suggestion in a report from Dan Graziano of ESPN, who cites multiple sources as saying that Kaepernick won’t settle for just any job.

According to the report, Kaepernick wants to go to a place that will give him a chance to start, and pay him a salary in the range of $9 million to $10 million a year. That would mean he expects a better deal than the ones free agent quarterbacks Josh McCown and Brian Hoyer got this month.

That would also mean some teams that could make sense for Kaepernick as a backup, like the Seahawks and Panthers, wouldn’t be attractive to Kaepernick because he wouldn’t have a chance to start.

Realistically, there aren’t many places where Kaepernick would get a chance to start. So if he’s limiting himself to those places, there are few options available to him.

One person we haven’t heard from is Kaepernick himself. Although he is active on social media, he rarely tweets about football and has not said anything about how much money he wants or what kind of opportunity he’s seeking.

If he’s willing to be a backup and play for backup money, saying so publicly might help him get such an offer. If he’s not willing to be a backup and play for backup money, he may remain unemployed for a while.
 

Mojo Ram

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There has to be a team willing to stand up and give this guy a chance...
 

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  • #79
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/04/02/plenty-of-veteran-quarterbacks-are-looking-for-work/

Plenty of veteran quarterbacks are looking for work
Posted by Mike Florio on April 2, 2017

603983686-e1491143498159.jpg
Getty Images

As the curious unemployment of quarterback Colin Kaepernick continues despite a season that compared favorably to Tyrod Taylor’s performance in Buffalo, plenty of other veteran quarterbacks are still looking for work.

Following the out-of-the-blue decision of the Vikings to add Case Keenum (reportedly on a one-year, $2 million deal) to back up Sam Bradford, let’s take a look at the list of the guys with NFL experience and who currently can be signed by anyone.

Beyond Kaepernick, 2016 starters like Jay Cutler and Ryan Fitzpatrick remain available. Blaine Gabbert, the early-season starter in San Francisco, also is on the market. So is Shaun Hill, who started (and won) for the Vikings at Tennessee in Week One, before Sam Bradford was ready to go.

Then there’s Robert Griffin III, who took the league by storm five years ago — and who never has been the same since tearing his ACL as a rookie. Widely criticized for not knowing how to protect himself, Griffin’s first (and only) year in Cleveland was derailed by a misguided decision to drop his shoulder into an Eagles defender in the opening game of the season. He’d return to start the last four games of the season, leading the Browns to their only win, on Christmas Eve against the Chargers.

Other unemployed quarterbacks include former Raiders backup Matt McGloin, long-time Lions understudy Dan Orlovsky, former Giants backup Ryan Nassib, and Bruce Gradkowski.

As offseason programs get rolling and teams max out with four quarterbacks, some of these veterans surely will get opportunities to compete for a roster spot. Some teams may wait until after the draft to make moves.

Regardless, in a league that doesn’t have enough quarterbacks to go around, plenty of quarterbacks are hanging around.
 
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