Gosselin: How the NFL pulling plug on European league made it harder to find A quality backup QB

[RamBill]

Gosselin: How the NFL pulling plug on European league made it harder for Cowboys to find quality backup QB

By Rick Gosselin

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dal...ue-made-harder-cowboys-find-quality-backup-qb

There's a quarterback shortage in the NFL, and the Cowboys aren't the only team feeling the pinch these days.

Desperate for a veteran backup for an aging Tony Romo, the Cowboys saw their offseason short list evaporate with the quick departure from the marketplace of Colt McCoy and Chase Daniel to division rivals. McCoy re-signed with the Redskins, and Daniel jumped from Kansas City to the Philadelphia Eagles. Both received three-year deals, with McCoy signing for $9 million and Daniel $21 million.

The Cowboys believed they could still get Matt Moore, a one-time training camp cut, on the cheap. But Moore, a nine-year veteran who hadn't started a game in four seasons with the Dolphins, chose to re-sign with Miami for $3.5 million over two years rather than return to Dallas.

Now what? There are few, if any, quality arms to be found. And the NFL has only itself to blame.

Quarterback is the most important position on the field. You need a franchise quarterback to win championships plus a quality backup to win games. But there are no longer enough of those arms to go around.

The NFL has no system in place to develop young quarterbacks. Unless they arrive in the NFL as first-round picks, they are drafted and they sit.
You don't develop a young quarterback having him throw against air in the offseason program. And you don't develop a young quarterback having him throw 60 passes in August in the preseason. His practice snaps then become few and far between during the regular season.

A young quarterback gets better by playing, not watching. He gets better by competing against defenses that rush him and jostle his receivers. He gets better by reading coverages and making decisions under duress when winning and losing matters. He gets better by playing in front of loud crowds week after week.

NFL Europe gave young quarterbacks that opportunity. For 16 years, the NFL had a system in place to develop arms. The NFL created the spring league with teams in such European hubs as London, Barcelona, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.

Essentially, it gave the NFL squatting - and television - rights on spring football, discouraging the possibility of any start-up leagues. It also gave the NFL a chance to develop young players, particularly quarterbacks. Those who were not ready for the NFL as first-, second- or third-year players were provided a field to develop their skills.

But the NFL pulled the plug on its European venture in 2007. Too expensive, the NFL decided. One league official told me NFL Europe was losing $40 million per year. Remember, this is a league that annually awards $80-90 million contracts to non-Pro Bowl players in free agency. A league that guarantees a quarterback with seven career starts $37 million of a $72 million contract. Forty million? That's $1.25 million per team. And that's a drop in the NFL's bountiful bucket.

So what would you peg the value of a Kurt Warner?

The NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals were Warner's transitional step between indoor (Arena League) and outdoor (NFL) football. He led the Admirals to a 7-3 record and also led NFL Europe in passing with 2,101 yards and 15 touchdowns. Warner then spent the 1998 season as a backup with the St. Louis Rams before stepping in as the starter in 1999 and becoming both an NFL and Super Bowl MVP.

Incidentally, Warner's backup in Amsterdam that season was Jake Delhomme, who returned to Europe the following spring with Frankfurt and set a league record by competing 67.3 percent of his passes. Five years later, Delhomme was quarterbacking the Carolina Panthers in a Super Bowl.

Delhomme said his time spent in Europe "was huge. It was getting reps. In NFL Europe, I was able to play in two-minute situations at the end of the half and at the end of games. I was able to bleed the clock in a four-minute situation when you have the lead at the end of a game. All the things that go into playing quarterback. When to use the hard count - all the little nuances that as quarterback needs to work on his craft. That's what NFL Europe allowed someone like myself to do."

Brad Johnson spent the 1995 season with the London Monarchs. Like Warner, he won a Super Bowl (Tampa Bay in 2002). Like both Warner and Delhomme, Johnson became a Pro Bowl quarterback. Their time in NFL Europe accelerated their developments as quarterbacks, giving them control of both an offense and a huddle for the first time as professionals.

In addition, NFL Europe alums Jon Kitna, Jay Fielder and Jim Miller all went on to win division titles as NFL quarterbacks. Scott Mitchell also took the Detroit Lions to the playoffs after an internship in NFL Europe. Mitchell, Kitna, Johnson and Warner all had 4,000-yard passing seasons in the NFL. Those same four quarterbacks plus Miller and Kelly Holcomb had 400-yard passing games in the NFL.

But what the NFL lacks right now are the quality arms that can serve as backups. That was another strength of the NFL Europe investment.
Quarterbacks Jamie Martin, Shaun Hill, Todd Bouman and Damon Huard all spent a year in Europe, as did current NFL head coaches Jason Garrett and Doug Pederson. Martin returned stateside and spent the next 16 seasons as an NFL backup, starting only eight games. Hill has spent the last 14 seasons as a backup, and Bouman and Huard 13 seasons apiece. Garrett and Pederson both spent 12 seasons as NFL backups, with Garrett starting just nine games and Pederson 17.
And that's what the Cowboys - and plenty of other NFL teams - could use right now. A trusted and experienced backup such as a Hill. Or a Bouman. Or a Holcomb. Or a Garrett. Someone who can step in and win a game when the starter goes down.

NFL Europe gave its parent league options at the position. But abandoning the venture has proven to be a fumble that the NFL has been unable to recover. In a league desperate for quality quarterbacking, the NFL decided it no longer needed to develop any.

 

[Mackeyser]

ESPECIALLY with the college game swinging wildly toward schemes on offense and defense that leverage talent disparities and simple schemes to create mismatches and create immediate scoring opportunities, college players find themselves more and more unprepared to play the PRO game.

This was a mistake before. With the Sabanizing of the college game... It's been a disaster.

And as the article states, $40M is NOTHING as an investment that would potentially develop as many as 16 QBs every few years (I wouldn't say every year because it takes longer than that in general, but with turnover, that would be HUGE for the NFL).

 

[Warner4Prez]

There were rumors of a 'D' league getting off the ground a year or two ago, but somehow that's fallen by the way side. I can easily envision a summer league being pretty successful, especially if you allow teams to share names with their NFL counterparts or somehow get it to resemble MLB's farm system. If you can get owners to buy in, it could take off pretty quick.

 

[DaveFan'51]

Gosselin: How the NFL pulling plug on European league made it harder for Cowboys to find quality backup QB

By Rick Gosselin

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dal...ue-made-harder-cowboys-find-quality-backup-qb

There's a quarterback shortage in the NFL, and the Cowboys aren't the only team feeling the pinch these days.

Desperate for a veteran backup for an aging Tony Romo, the Cowboys saw their offseason short list evaporate with the quick departure from the marketplace of Colt McCoy and Chase Daniel to division rivals. McCoy re-signed with the Redskins, and Daniel jumped from Kansas City to the Philadelphia Eagles. Both received three-year deals, with McCoy signing for $9 million and Daniel $21 million.

The Cowboys believed they could still get Matt Moore, a one-time training camp cut, on the cheap. But Moore, a nine-year veteran who hadn't started a game in four seasons with the Dolphins, chose to re-sign with Miami for $3.5 million over two years rather than return to Dallas.

Now what? There are few, if any, quality arms to be found. And the NFL has only itself to blame.

Quarterback is the most important position on the field. You need a franchise quarterback to win championships plus a quality backup to win games. But there are no longer enough of those arms to go around.

The NFL has no system in place to develop young quarterbacks. Unless they arrive in the NFL as first-round picks, they are drafted and they sit.
You don't develop a young quarterback having him throw against air in the offseason program. And you don't develop a young quarterback having him throw 60 passes in August in the preseason. His practice snaps then become few and far between during the regular season.

A young quarterback gets better by playing, not watching. He gets better by competing against defenses that rush him and jostle his receivers. He gets better by reading coverages and making decisions under duress when winning and losing matters. He gets better by playing in front of loud crowds week after week.

NFL Europe gave young quarterbacks that opportunity. For 16 years, the NFL had a system in place to develop arms. The NFL created the spring league with teams in such European hubs as London, Barcelona, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.

Essentially, it gave the NFL squatting - and television - rights on spring football, discouraging the possibility of any start-up leagues. It also gave the NFL a chance to develop young players, particularly quarterbacks. Those who were not ready for the NFL as first-, second- or third-year players were provided a field to develop their skills.

But the NFL pulled the plug on its European venture in 2007. Too expensive, the NFL decided. One league official told me NFL Europe was losing $40 million per year. Remember, this is a league that annually awards $80-90 million contracts to non-Pro Bowl players in free agency. A league that guarantees a quarterback with seven career starts $37 million of a $72 million contract. Forty million? That's $1.25 million per team. And that's a drop in the NFL's bountiful bucket.

So what would you peg the value of a Kurt Warner?

The NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals were Warner's transitional step between indoor (Arena League) and outdoor (NFL) football. He led the Admirals to a 7-3 record and also led NFL Europe in passing with 2,101 yards and 15 touchdowns. Warner then spent the 1998 season as a backup with the St. Louis Rams before stepping in as the starter in 1999 and becoming both an NFL and Super Bowl MVP.

Incidentally, Warner's backup in Amsterdam that season was Jake Delhomme, who returned to Europe the following spring with Frankfurt and set a league record by competing 67.3 percent of his passes. Five years later, Delhomme was quarterbacking the Carolina Panthers in a Super Bowl.

Delhomme said his time spent in Europe "was huge. It was getting reps. In NFL Europe, I was able to play in two-minute situations at the end of the half and at the end of games. I was able to bleed the clock in a four-minute situation when you have the lead at the end of a game. All the things that go into playing quarterback. When to use the hard count - all the little nuances that as quarterback needs to work on his craft. That's what NFL Europe allowed someone like myself to do."

Brad Johnson spent the 1995 season with the London Monarchs. Like Warner, he won a Super Bowl (Tampa Bay in 2002). Like both Warner and Delhomme, Johnson became a Pro Bowl quarterback. Their time in NFL Europe accelerated their developments as quarterbacks, giving them control of both an offense and a huddle for the first time as professionals.

In addition, NFL Europe alums Jon Kitna, Jay Fielder and Jim Miller all went on to win division titles as NFL quarterbacks. Scott Mitchell also took the Detroit Lions to the playoffs after an internship in NFL Europe. Mitchell, Kitna, Johnson and Warner all had 4,000-yard passing seasons in the NFL. Those same four quarterbacks plus Miller and Kelly Holcomb had 400-yard passing games in the NFL.

But what the NFL lacks right now are the quality arms that can serve as backups. That was another strength of the NFL Europe investment.
Quarterbacks Jamie Martin, Shaun Hill, Todd Bouman and Damon Huard all spent a year in Europe, as did current NFL head coaches Jason Garrett and Doug Pederson. Martin returned stateside and spent the next 16 seasons as an NFL backup, starting only eight games. Hill has spent the last 14 seasons as a backup, and Bouman and Huard 13 seasons apiece. Garrett and Pederson both spent 12 seasons as NFL backups, with Garrett starting just nine games and Pederson 17.
And that's what the Cowboys - and plenty of other NFL teams - could use right now. A trusted and experienced backup such as a Hill. Or a Bouman. Or a Holcomb. Or a Garrett. Someone who can step in and win a game when the starter goes down.

NFL Europe gave its parent league options at the position. But abandoning the venture has proven to be a fumble that the NFL has been unable to recover. In a league desperate for quality quarterbacking, the NFL decided it no longer needed to develop any.

Just my own opinion But ..... This writer is WRONG!! Could be ....

These Players coming out of The European League are not worth the waist of Time! Warner was a once in a life time "Happening!"

But I could be Dead Wrong! I just don't see us waiting the money in Europe, when we could develop players here in the U.S.A.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I wish they would bring back some sort of minor league.

 

[LesBaker]

@Elmgrovegnome you cranky fucker I am with you.......a minor league in the US in smaller cities, and maybe one or two larger markets, would be awesome. A minor league would be perfect.

The writer didn't exactly make a case for NFLE producing QB's though did he.........that was a BIG leap.

 

[Mackeyser]

Actually, I thought he did. As we are seeing, it's not even a case of a minor league producing the occasional Warner or Delhomme, but producing a steady supply of RELIABLE backups and/or late bloomers such that teams can properly equip a passing league with Quarterbacks, not only the most crucial position in a passing game, but the most essential position in all of sports.

For awhile, the college game produced enough prospects at this most crucial position (and the NFL game wasn't so hyperfocused on the passing game as it is now) that that a minor league wasn't necessary.

It can be easily argued, I think, that the reason why the Rams were able to extract such a price from Washington, aside from Washington historically overpaying under owner Dan Snyder, is both the projected excellence of the prospect AND the respective rarity of such a prospect. As we found out, Cleveland came back and offered MORE. Such is the rarity even in 2011 of prospects evaluated at Luck and RG3's level that teams were willing to offer a tremendous amount.

I think if the NFL doesn't do something, and soon, especially with the retirement of the current top tier of stars likely to happen in the next 5 years or so, scoring will plummet and the game will suffer.

Will they simply rebrand the game as a defensive game? Yeah, but that's harder to do when you can't sell brutality which is where defense lives. When you could sell big hits and Sack videos and stuff like that, it's easier to market the NFL as a defensive league. When you've just acknowledged this month that NFL play is causal to CTE, it's pretty hard to do that.

Which brings us back to quarterbacks... because we've seen how defenses are too good for teams to run to victory. There has to be a passing element. And the league can't go back to it being normal for QBs to throw for 3k yrds a season if that and maybe 20 TDs.

Now, does it have to be NFL Europe? Of course not. That was to "expand the brand". If they did a minor league here in the US, it wouldn't really matter all that much. The point is to have a venue to develop players since College isn't that venue at a lot of positions for a lot of players.

And that's bad for the NFL.

 

[Ram65]

NFL Europe or USA minor league makes too much sense. The money (investment) is a drop in the bucket for the NFL. The way prices have gone it could be the only Pro Football the average Joe could take his kids to see. They might even brake close to even with some savvey marketing. If young players aren't given game time it's hard to get better. Just look at he money overspent on QB with little to no game experience. It's not just QBs either WR and DB as well as all players can use game time to improve their craft.

 

[Ballhawk]

Sounds like Trump needs to revive the USFL to make the NFL great again!:mrburnsevil:

 

[Ramrasta]

I think the game will adapt. If QB's are scarce, teams will just transition to innovative rushing attacks and stout defenses. I imagine the current "passing league" was never sustainable to begin with and just rode on a rare wave of talented passers like Manning, Brady, Brees, Rivers, Favre, Warner, etc. Maybe the reality is that amount of top tier QBs only comes along once a century and teams are making the mistake of believing this will still be the standard in the future.

There are still a few potentially great QBs that came out of recent drafts like Bortles, Carr, and maybe Winston but only time will tell.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

@Elmgrovegnome you cranky freaker I am with you.......a minor league in the US in smaller cities, and maybe one or two larger markets, would be awesome. A minor league would be perfect.

The writer didn't exactly make a case for NFLE producing QB's though did he.........that was a BIG leap.

The NFL owners don't want to spend more money though. That is the kicker. A minor league probably would cost them instead of bringing in profits. With Fisher and Sneads success with UDFA's I have to think they would be pretty good at locating talent to develop in the minor league system.

I wonder how the NFLPA would feel about a minor league. It would give more guys jobs, but also be creating more cheap talent to displace veterans.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

NFL Europe or USA minor league makes too much sense. The money (investment) is a drop in the bucket for the NFL. The way prices have gone it could be the only Pro Football the average Joe could take his kids to see. They might even brake close to even with some savvey marketing. If young players aren't given game time it's hard to get better. Just look at he money overspent on QB with little to no game experience. It's not just QBs either WR and DB as well as all players can use game time to improve their craft.

It would seem like a drop in the bucket to us, but the greedy owners don't like to part with any money at all. They would have to pay coaches, players, rent stadiums. I personally would love it. I have been a minor league baseball fan since the 80's. I love going to watch prospects for my team. I don't think there would be any monetary profit in it for the owners though.

 

[dieterbrock]

The QB issue alone is short sighted. The NFL needs a D league because it helps cultivate and develop players, coaches, refs/officials and even broadcasting. Media outlets create opportunities for analysts, sideline reporters etc.
It helps the ENTIRE game.
IIRC the biggest issue is that NFL owners cant contribute towards the league over union issues or something along that.
A D league just makes the sport better.
Cant believe they cant figure out a way to make it work, for everyone

 

[-X-]

True. I can't remember, though, if they were actually contracted by NFL teams while over there - and thus immune from being signed by another team - or if they were showcasing their talents for everyone. I remember Vermeil sent Warner over there, but I don't remember Warner being an automatic member of the 53 man roster the following year.

 

[-X-]

Well, however they structure it, I think we're all in agreement that the NFL needs a AAA league.
They can hold the season between May and August.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I made mention of the NFLPA in an earlier post. I would think that if the league really wanted to do it, they could get around the players association in some way. If they were convinced that this minor league would allow more people to play professional football and be a benefit, maybe they would agree on different rules and compensation for the minor league players.

I was a non civil service state employee for a few years and had different, lesser benefits than a true civil servant, but we were both state employees.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

The QB issue alone is short sighted. The NFL needs a D league because it helps cultivate and develop players, coaches, refs/officials and even broadcasting. Media outlets create opportunities for analysts, sideline reporters etc.
It helps the ENTIRE game.
IIRC the biggest issue is that NFL owners cant contribute towards the league over union issues or something along that.
A D league just makes the sport better.
Cant believe they cant figure out a way to make it work, for everyone

How does baseball do it? I thought the stadiums and team names belong to the affiliates, but the league just controls the players. Although I believe the Yankees actually bought and control their AAA and one of their A level teams in Tampa. But all others are owned an run privately or by municipalities as affiliates.