INDIANAPOLIS — With apologies to Joe Burrow and the rest of the rookies who have traveled here for the NFL Scouting Combine, the most interesting quarterback name here in Indianapolis is Tom Brady.
And Philip Rivers.
And Cam Newton and Jameis Winston and Dak Prescott and Teddy Bridgewater and Andy Dalton and Ryan Tannehill.
Advertisement
“This is a very unique year where there’s a lot of experienced quarterbacks who could potentially become free agents,” Tampa general manager Jason Licht said. “What’s going to happen, we don’t know.”
Just about the only sure thing about this offseason’s quarterback market is that Burrow, LSU’s Heisman Trophy and national championship-winning quarterback, will go No. 1 overall in the draft to Cincinnati. The real drama here in Indianapolis is the impending veteran quarterback carousel, and it starts with one key question: Where will Tom Brady end up?
A popular game in Indianapolis’ coffee shops and steakhouses is to predict odds on Brady’s 2020 team, and from there figure out which quarterbacks land where. It’s a fun exercise because no one really knows what Brady will do.
“When you think of Tom, Tom’s always going to be a New England Patriot,” Broncos general manager John Elway said. “He’s at that time in his life he still wants to play. It’ll be interesting for him to kind of explore and see what’s out there. I’m sure that’s exciting to him to kind of look around and see what’s available.”
The Brady question won’t be officially answered until at least March 18, when free agents can sign with new teams, and Brady could drag the process out further if he chooses to meet with potential suitors before signing. When Peyton Manning hit free agency in 2012, he spent more than a week traveling the country visiting with various teams. Brady could shorten that timeline if he has teams come to him, but it could still delay the process for other quarterbacks.
For once, Elway is here in Indianapolis not searching for a new quarterback. But even Elway admitted that if Brady said he’d want to talk to the Broncos, Elway would be up for the conversation. So would the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who remain notably non-committal to former No. 1 draft pick Jameis Winston; and maybe the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers or the Tennessee Titans, who need to make a decision about Ryan Tannehill’s future.
Advertisement
But that’s what happens when a future Hall of Famer like Brady prepares to hit the open market for the first time in his career, and yet, he’s just one of several starting-caliber quarterbacks who could switch teams in the coming month.
They range from aging stars like Philip Rivers, whose divorce from the Chargers was announced earlier this month, to former top picks like Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, whose original teams might be moving on. And from former MVP in Cam Newton, whose future in Carolina is murky because of his injuries and a regime change, to Teddy Bridgewater, who showed last year in his five games filling in for Drew Brees that he’s ready to be a full-time starter again.
“Quarterback is the premier position and you never thought you’d see (Tom) Brady and (Drew) Brees and all those guys’ names be out there. And Drew is not really out there,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said. (Editor’s note: Brees would become a free agent in March, but has already announced he’s returning to the Saints in 2020). “So what is door No. 2? You never know.”
Rivers, the 38-year-old long-time Chargers starter, is already on the market. The rest of the free-agent pool will become clearer after the franchise tag deadline on March 10. Potential candidates to receive the tag from their respective teams are Prescott (Cowboys) and Tannehill (Tennessee). Prescott’s agents met with Cowboys officials in Indianapolis on Wednesday, the first formal meeting between the two sides in months. The Bucs could choose to place the tag on Winston, but (as The Athletic Tampa Bay’s Greg Auman wrote) that seems increasingly unlikely.
The exclusive negotiating period for teams to work on deals with their own impending free agents (another possibility for Tannehill and the Titans) could shrink the pool of free agents even further.
Advertisement
Then there are trade possibilities.
Teams can agree to trades now but they can’t be officially executed until March 18. The most notable quarterback likely to move via trade is Dalton, the longtime Bengals starter who is expected to be dealt as the Bengals prepare to draft Burrow.
An NFL general manager told The Athletic on Wednesday that while Brady is the biggest name who could be on the move, Dalton is an intriguing piece. Dalton’s only 32, is scheduled to make only $17.5 million in salary in 2020, the final year of his contract, and this GM said Dalton could command a second or third-round pick in trade compensation.
But Dalton’s destination might not become clear until Brady kicks off the process and the dominoes begin to fall.
“It’s amazing because you really don’t know who is available until the tags come out and then you’ll know,” Arians said. “Then you get a short window to talk to somebody. The legal tampering period. Right now, you don’t even know if a guy is going to be on the market. It’s hard to say. All these quarterbacks are out there? I think maybe two or three will be out there.”
It’s all these “what ifs” and speculation, combined by a top-heavy draft class of passers, headlined by Burrow and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, that make this the most unique quarterback offseason possibly ever.
For once, there are potentially more players on the move in this game of quarterback musical chairs than there are teams seeking a new starter. Agents and team officials alike hoped that this week in Indianapolis would provide some clarity about what’s to come in March, but few have come up with any solid answers.
“It’s bananas. I mean, holy shit, we’ve never seen anything like this” a veteran agent told The Athletic.
(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)
