Whittling Down the Free Agent Quarterbacks the Chiefs Will Pursue
by Chris Thorman on Feb 16, 2009 2:49 PM CST
in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Offseason
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PrintIn just over two weeks on February 27th, the NFL free agency period will begin.
The Kansas City Chiefs never really have been a franchise to burst out the gate when free agency starts, regardless of who the head coach is. I doubt we're major players in the free agency market again this year. The conventional logic and history shows us that Scott Pioli won't make a huge splash by signing marquee free agents.
Still, it's our duty here to do our best to cover all of the angles for you regarding player personnel. My gut feeling now says that Tyler Thigpen is penciled in to be the starting quarterback in 2009 and that the Chiefs will take a quarterback on the first day of the draft (that is, in the first two rounds). Like all of my whims, that one will likely change.
The goal of this post and subsequent posts on other positions is to whittle down the pool of free agents to only those that the Chiefs would pursue. That way, when free agency starts, we won't be shocked by who/if the Chiefs pick up.
The Chiefs have three options for pursuing a quarterback this off season. The first option is a trade, which I don't see as very likely. For one, trades in the NFL simply don't happen as often as other sports. Salary cap issues, the already deep pool of free agent players among other things has created an environment where NFL teams are reluctant to trade for another team's unwanted player. The Chiefs would likely have to give up a draft pick(s) in a trade for a QB. I don't see our new leadership trading away any of our first day draft picks over the next two years.
The next option is to draft a quarterback, which we've covered extensively here at AP and I won't get into right now.
Finally, the Chiefs could pursue one of the 26 free agent quarterbacks currently on the market. We've also talked about this quite a bit but I wanted to lay out the full list of free agent QBs for you to peruse to make your own decision. I find it easier to make judgments and decisions when I have all of the information available.
Below are the only quarterbacks that I could conceive a hypothetical (not necessarily likely) situation in which they would come to Kansas City. I've rated these QBs from 1 to 5 by the likelihood the Chiefs will pursue them this off season.
| Player | Team | Status | Likelihood Chiefs will pursue |
| QB J.P. Losman | Bills | UFA | 3 |
| QB Matt Cassel | Patriots | UFA | 2 |
| QB Byron Leftwich | Steelers | UFA | 2 |
| QB Jeff Garcia | Buccaneers | UFA | 2 |
| QB Kurt Warner | Cardinals | UFA | 1 |
First, it's pretty clear that Kurt Warner is going to stay in Arizona if he doesn't retire. Even though Warner may make sense as a placeholder while the Chiefs find their quarterback of the future, he almost assuredly isn't' going to leave the Cardinals.
Next, still thinking placeholder, we have Jeff Garcia. Garcia could be in Red & Gold next season if the Chiefs think that their quarterback of the future is not available in 2009. Personally, I'm a fan of bringing in a veteran quarterback if the team isn't 100% sure on a quarterback of the future. A poor QB can really damage an offense's progression (cough, Brodie Croyle, cough). If Tyler Thigpen doesn't start next year and Todd Haley and Scott Pioli are not able to draft the quarterback they want, I think Jeff Garcia would be a solid fit in KC for a year or two.
Since the Patriots recently put the franchise tag on Matt Cassel, his asking price is now a big contract and two 1st round draft picks to the Patriots. I don't think the Chiefs will pay this price for Cassel but I left him up there as a possible QB of interest.
Byron Leftwich fits the placeholder angle that I've been pushing but he's probably the weakest QB out of this mix. He was signed by the Steelers last season to a one-year deal. He could be had for cheap but probably isn't starting caliber anymore.
Finally, we have 27-year old J.P. Losman who was fomerly a Buffalo Bill. UCrawford had this to say about Losman back in September:
Losman, on the other hand, is a very interesting prospect. He lost his job to Trent Edwards in Buffalo, but for the last two years he's completed over 60% of his throws, with respectable deep passing numbers while maintaining an unimpressive, but not horrible, TD/INT ratio of 23/20. Best of all, he's not likely to get franchise tagged for Buffalo because their top WR, Lee Evans, is also an unrestricted free agent this offseason so signing him would come without having to give up compensation. So, should the Chiefs be willing to go shopping, there is at least one respectable option at QB available to them this offseason.
Losman and Garcia? Those are the only two free agent quarterbacks I think are worth pursuing by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Thoughts on this year's crop of free agent QBs? Did I get the possible pursuits down or would you look at any others?
| Player | Team | Status | Likelihood Chiefs will pursue |
| QB Charlie Batch | Steelers | UFA | 1 |
| QB Kyle Boller | Ravens | UFA | 1 |
| QB Brooks Bollinger | Cowboys | UFA | 1 |
| QB Todd Bouman | Ravens | UFA | 1 |
| QB Kerry Collins | Titans | UFA | 1 |
| QB Ryan Fitzpatrick | Bengals | UFA | 1 |
| QB Charlie Frye | Seahawks | UFA | 1 |
| QB Rex Grossman | Bears | UFA | 1 |
| QB Joey Harrington | Saints | UFA | 1 |
| QB Jamie Martin | 49ers | UFA | 1 |
| QB J.T. O'Sullivan | 49ers | UFA | 1 |
| QB Dan Orlovsky | Lions | UFA | 1 |
| QB Patrick Ramsey | Broncos | UFA | 1 |
| QB Chris Simms | Titans | UFA | 1 |
| QB Brian St. Pierre | Cardinals | UFA | 1 |
| QB Anthony Wright | Giants | UFA | 1 |
| QB Brock Berlin | Rams | RFA | 1 |
| QB Gibran Hamdan | Bills | RFA | 1 |
| QB Matt Baker | Bills | ERFA | 1 |
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Comments
Anyone
who would argue Losman is a better QB prospect than Leftwich clearly didnt watch football this last season. Leftwich will be highly sought after and consequently signed before Losman.
McCown & Carr both have resigned with their respective teams
The best QB’s out of the crop of FA’s (in no particular order) are Boller, Fitzpatrick, Harrington, and Simms. I’m not high on any of them…
by KansasCityShuffle on Feb 16, 2009 2:53 PM CST reply actions
Thanks for the updated info
I’m skeptical of Leftwich’s injury history and was putting him below Losman based on potential.
Thanks for the thoughts!
by Chris Thorman on Feb 16, 2009 2:57 PM CST up reply actions
Why...
Are the Chiefs throwing out Thigpen as a viable option. Drafting a QB within the first two rounds would be complete disrespect to the person that lifted our team up out of little to nothing?
Was anybody else excited to watch Thigpen play? Or was that just me…
Wait
Are you asking why aren’t the Chiefs talking about Thigpen as the starter? They haven’t really talked about the QB
by Chris Thorman on Feb 16, 2009 3:11 PM CST up reply actions
This first sentence gave me a Monday afternoon guppyflash
… although, in deference to Overlords and such, it is outside of my jursidiction to declare it official. Anyone ever had guppyflash? It’s a real bear, let me tell you. Throws you for a loop for, like, a solid 30 seconds.
As Chris requests, kindly clarify yourself, sir (or madam, as the case may be).
Great job, Clark!!!
by chiefstatnut on Feb 16, 2009 4:55 PM CST up reply actions
Should...
we not give Pigpen a shot for an entire year to show us that he can succeed in the NFL.
After Week 8, which was after the blowouts from Carolina and Tennessee, we lost by an average of only 7.33 points; 66 total points divided by 9 games. In my opinion that’s not that far off from victory. You add a weapon or two, along with gaining some experience and fine tuning the system, and we have a contender for the AFC West.
Additionally, I do believe that Tyler Thigpen could be one of the few successful mobile quarterbacks in the league. He did have the most rushing yards for a QB… And that’s working with a mediocre line.
(Great Left Side + Bad Right Side = Mediocrity)
He’s also got the support of Tony Gonzalez, the greatest Tight End ever. And Tony’s had 5 Quarterbacks throw to him. (Grbac, Gannon, Green, Huard, Thigpen).
Give him some support. Help Pigpen out and he’ll help us out… (that sounds sexual, AWESOME!)
Thigpen is good
I totally agree with you Dono. The chiefs can do much worse than tyler thigpen. The team has greater needs, such as defensive end, the replacement for Donnie Edwards, another weapon besides Bowe, etc.
I think Thigpen has the mentality of a winner…he is competitive, creative, and knows how to work hard. I would give him more of a chance before using a first day pick to find a “replacement.”
www.NFLdraftblogger.com
If we pick up a free agent..
it would be good for the team. Just to get some competition going. Look at last year as a great example, the keys of the kingdom were given to Brokie Croyle and he blew it (and his knee) Huard broke his thumb and Bones got the nod out of default. Not saying Bones didn’t do well as the year progressed, but I think if we get a veteran qb in camp to compete with Bones it might make him really work on his passing, coverage reads, etc. Which would make him a better qb for us, and if God forbid he goes down with an injury we have a backup who can hopefully do what he did and lift the offense to something respectable.
Obviously the list gets a big meh
But if I had my choice, I’d go with Garcia over any of the rest of the guys.
Assuming we’re talking about a holdover QB.
Cassel Can go for less than two #1's
With Franchise players the two teams can come to an agreement far less then two 1st round picks like last year when the Chiefs got a 1 and two 3’s for Allen. If I’m ‘’Slow Po" I would give up a 2 and 3 for Cassel and nothing more. The Patriots arent going to pay that much for two QB’s and a high 2nd and 3rd is more then enough.
Or I would switch positons with the Patriots in the first round and give them our 3rd round pick.
South Side D
Good points
Darn this real job affecting my blogging!
by Chris Thorman on Feb 16, 2009 3:29 PM CST up reply actions
nice post
Nice post, I didn’t know that alot of these QB’s will be free….I just wish they would get a feaking coaching staff together before the combine
South Side D
Exactly
The Pats franchised Cassel to insure that they would get something for him no matter what (although, I’m sure they would be willing to take the 2 1st rounders if that’s what it came to, haha). A trade doesn’t even necessarily have to be just picks either; a mix of players and picks works too, just like any other NFL trade.
doriang hits it right on the money, though. New England aren’t going to shell out over 22 million dollars in salary and roster bonuses this season for just the QB position. That means that Cassel can be had, if Pioli is certain he’s the guy.
The problem w/ Cassel
besides the fact he may be a one year wonder and we already have a decent QB is that he now has a 14.65 million dollar salary. That being said why would anyone want to trade draft picks for that salary when I can sign a guy like Losman to come in and compete for far less, keep my draft picks so I can continue to improve my team, and use that 14.65 to pay a couple or more FA’s to come in.
If we were a QB short of going to the SuperBowl then going after Cassel makes sense, but for a team that has gone 4-12, 2-14 respectively, has zero pass rush, possibly one identifiable linebacker, safeties who cant tackle, undersized corners, an offensive line that cannot hold a block for longer than 2 seconds, an aging #1 pass catcher who is conflicted whether “HE” wants to be on the team, the #1 RB who is on his way to becoming a felon, and am short about a handful of quality coaches, then I’m thinking we pass on Cassel and use that money more effieciently.
If you signed Cassel
I’m pretty sure the contract can be restructured, especially since you’d most likely be locking him up long term (anyone is free to correct me if I’m wrong on this).
I was under the impression
that once he signed the tender offer that the money was locked in, now at the same time you may be correct because Allen signed a long term contract with the Vikings last year. But then we would be giving gauranteed long term money to a guy we dont know much about. AGGHH, there is no certainty! to much risk involved with Cassel in my estimation.
From NFL.com
Vic Carucci – Patriots execute a sound plan by tagging QB Cassel
A team that acquires Cassel obviously wouldn’t want him for only the one-year term of the franchise-tender offer. It would have to work out a multi-year contract that could then be made more salary-cap friendly by amortizing a signing bonus (which could easily top the $14.65 million that Cassel already is guaranteed) over the life of the agreement.
why not garcia
I know he is getting up there in the age but my view is that he’s a lot better than any of the other QB’s except maybe Cassel.
by kcfaninsandiego on Feb 16, 2009 3:35 PM CST reply actions
Garcia
He would be a bridge from the old to the new and nothing more. If I’m in charge of the Chiefs, I focus on the rest of the team first (specifically both lines) and let Thigpen compete to see if he progresses from last year (perhaps draft a late-round QB if there’s an interesting prospect who can be developed).
Yes
Let Thigpen take a full offseason as the starter, compete in training camp with whoever and play next year. If he gets better then jackpot, if he gets worse than draft one of the studs in the ’10 class. I agree with the Pats guy.
To be the man you got to beat the man!!!!
I'd rather go with a younger Losman than Garcia
As we know from Brodie, a QB competition is a good idea and Losman can fill our QB hole longer than a veteran could.
I'd rather go with a one-armed orangutan than Losman
seriously… maybe we can bring in the Wing-T offense and never throw a single pass.
I’d rather play every game with Thigpen, Croyle AND Martin all on the field at the same time (you know, the old 3 QB set) for 90% of our offensive plays than have Losman out there for one series.
no
and for the record… no
by Ochophosphate on Feb 17, 2009 1:16 AM CST up reply actions
Garcia makes the most sense...
as a backup or stopgap option to Thigpen. Unlike Losman you wouldn’t have to completely change the offense if one or the other (garcia and thiggy) go down.
You want to talk about damaging an offenses progression? Think of how catastrophic it would be for Thiggy to go down midway through the season and then have to revamp the entire offense AGAIN midway through the season for a second straight year to accommodate the qb.
From the lsit I would go with Garcia
but another available QB is Bruce Gradkowski. He is young as has shown some potential. Does anyone know more about him? Do you think we would/should be interested? I’d be okay with either Garcia or Gradkowski battling Thigpen for the starting gig next year.
He's currently on the Raiders roster
and sucks to boot
by KansasCityShuffle on Feb 16, 2009 4:01 PM CST up reply actions
QB
How many QB’s do you think the Chiefs will carry into the season? Seems like they currently have Thigpen, Gray, Croyle, Huard. Which do you see getting cut as they add QB’s from the draft or FA?
Don't forget Ingle the Elf
Huard should be the first to go. Ideally the Chiefs would keep Thigpen, Gray, and a draftee while cutting the rest
by KansasCityShuffle on Feb 16, 2009 4:05 PM CST up reply actions
Garcia
is the most ungraceful QB to ever play the position. If people think Bones had happy feet they’d be in for a real show watching Garcia. There’s a reason he’s been bounced around the league because he’s nothing special. If we’re just going for stop-gaps why even bring in Garcia to battle with Thigpen? Why not just let Thigpen continue to play and let our draft pick develop on the side
by KansasCityShuffle on Feb 16, 2009 4:04 PM CST reply actions
agreed
Best case, Thigpen blossoms and becomes a franchise QB.
Average case, Thigpen turns out to be at least legit enough to be a long term backup or trade bait.
Worst case, Thigpen busts and we can fall back on the draftee
Disastrous case, Thig implodes and the draftee busts too.
by Ochophosphate on Feb 17, 2009 1:50 AM CST up reply actions
QB
Speaking of Huard, what is his hit against the salary cap? If he is released?
ESPN says
that the team has informed Jeff Garcia that he is no longer in their plans.
Now hopefully this team is fun to watch again! Thanks Scott, Clark!!
Personally
I think Thigpen will do just fine with some good coaching. His starting in the NFL is pending on whether or not we can get a good QB coach to bring him along. Also having Gonzalez for another year wouldn’t hurt
We should only get a new QB in FA
If he we see him becoming our star QB for years to come. Personally I’m a fan of Thigpen, and if like others have said we get him a good OL and another weapon he definitely has the potential to be a very good quarterback. But even if you don’t believe he could be a very good QB it is plenty obvious that he is at least an averagish QB and with that in mind why bother bringing in a couple of other averagish (at best) QB’s like Losman or Garcia?
I wouldn't waste any time with the FA's available.
You have Thiggs, you have Quinn Gray who IMHO can play (i still have flashbacks of what he did to us as a jaguar), and you have Brodie aka “Mr. Glass”. I’d go with this lineup into opening day unless Pioli spots a gem in the late rounds of the draft (Nathan Brown would be my 1st choice). Otherwise i think we are OK at the QB spot if Thiggs can become more consistent and we add another weapon or at least replace LJ with a good RB or even a good commitee to give us a run game we have a viable offense. Use draft to focus on Defense, maybe get another OL if situation presents itself.
"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week."
Use FA to find some experience at LB and DL/OL and draft what we don't sign
"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week."
+1......Now that's what I'm talkin' about.....Nathan Brown.
It will be a tough choice though if Stafford is sitting at #3 for us. Matt has the tools to succeed in the NFL.
Agreed about the FA QB’s…..they all get a big……Meh….play Thigpen and see if continues to develop. No use to bring in another guy who failed to do well with another team, it would just take playing time away from Thigpen who still an unknown commodity.
Opinions are like A--holes, everyones got one.
by aPacificChief on Feb 17, 2009 1:15 AM CST up reply actions
Alex Smith
Alex Smith is going to be asked to restructure his contract with the 49ers, otherwise they will cut him. Either way, the Chiefs have the chance to let him know that he could compete for the starting job in KC. Smith was tremendously successful in college and decent as a second-year starter in San Francisco. The basic story about his lack of great success in SF is that he doesn’t have the type of personality to come in and succeed as the number one overall pick. It would make sense for the Chiefs to consider signing Smith to an incentive-laden contract and let him compete with Thigpen and a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick (e.g., Nate Davis, or perhaps Nathan Brown in the 4th or 5th round). A change of scenery is just what the doctor ordered for Alex Smith.
Boo LOSSman
I am from Canada not far from Buffalo, and I’m forced to watch a lot of Bills games. Losman is the exact opposite of franchise quarterback. He throws way too many INTs and is TERRIBLE under pressure. He lost his job to Edwards who isn’t any great QB either.
Dennis Dixon!!!
No one on this list is worth a damn. Trade LJ to Steelers for Dennis Dixon, and have him and Thiggy compete along with rookie FA W.Tuitama to see who runs the Arrowspread.
Quinn Gray
Has fair stats for the little amount of play he’s had in the NFL and I think I’d have him over Losman. I’d stay away from free agent QB’s and go with Thigs, Gray to push him and draft a QB in later rounds. Also, if we keep the spread Gray has been effective scrambling.
Let's go out and get a real franchise quarterback
I don’t understand all the love for Tyler Thigpen. I think he has been a nice story (being a 7th round draft pick from a college that just started a football program) but I don’t see why he should be the QB of the future for this team. He can’t run any offense other than the spread. Yeah, switching to the spread helped us score some points last year, but it pretty much eliminated our running game and we won only 1 game that way (and that was to the Raiders who gave us the game pretty much on the horrible fake FG). I know some people are excited by the “pistol” formation, but do you really think that offense can be taken into Pittsburgh or Baltimore and have a real chance at succeeding? I don’t really see Thigpen being an accurate enough of a passer to be a solid quarterback in a pro-style offense. I don’t think he has a great arm either. Yes, he can scramble, but he won’t last very long in the league if he continues to tuck and run as much as he did this past season.
Unless we are team that that already has a Top 5 Defense, good special teams, and a solid running game, I don’t see why we should “settle” for a QB who at best will “manage” the game. Look at the quarterbacks the teams that win Super Bowls – the vast majority of those teams have a franchise quarterback that is the face of the franchise. We have never really had a young franchise QB since Len Dawson.
It will be really interesting to see what Pioli does at the QB position this offseason. I hope we wait and see how Matthew Stafford does at the combine and see if he will fall to #3 in the draft. If he won’t, then I think Pioli should go after Matt Cassel. Thigpen might just be enough of a ransom to drive down the Patriots’ asking price for Cassel.
All of you guys in favor of grabbing Losman...
Have you guys watched him play on a consistent basis? I don’t think that’s the type of quarterback you should be looking for. I would say you’re better off sticking with Thigpen, who still has a lot of room for improvement.
I would rather have Dustin Colquitt or Jean Philippe Darche Frenchy be the QB
than Loserman
To be the man you got to beat the man!!!!
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