The top free-agent quarterback prize this year is Washington’s Kirk Cousins.
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Long-time Bengals backup quarterback AJ McCarron will nearly assuredly leave Cincinnati this offseason as an unrestricted free agent, but he’s only an unrestricted free agent because he won his grievance against the Bengals on Thursday.
While that’s a big win for McCarron, the implications of being named an unrestricted free agent mean more than just him being available and getting a raise. “I was going to be blessed either way because you’re still in the league; you’re still being able to play the game for a living”.
One team in need of a quarterback this offseason is the Vikings. I just love playing football. I can’t wait for him to get his chance to show the world his talent and his leadership.
All that competition is likely to drive up the price of a man who has started just three regular season games and one playoff game.
Like with Glennon previous year, teams will be digging for past tape on McCarron, and they’ll like much of what they see from his 2015 season when he started three games for the Bengals, and was an overtime fumble against the eventual champion Denver Broncos away from winning all three. That got all botched up, and the team has since changed general manager and overhauled its front office, but if the Browns still want McCarron, they can now get him for nothing but money.
The four-year contract that McCarron signed as a rookie runs out at that time. The Browns and Bengals were close to a trade on McCarron, but things fell apart at the last minute. Will it be the Browns and lame-duck coach Hue Jackson, who likes McCarron from his offensive coordinator days here?
What’s more is any potential commitment Cleveland would make to McCarron – particularly from a financial standpoint – wouldn’t preclude the Browns from also selecting a quarterback first overall in the upcoming NFL Draft.
As the Denver Broncos begin this season’s quest to find their quarterback of the future, a familiar face finds himself added to the mix of players set to hit the jackpot in free agency. It’s best the Jets stay away from McCarron and stick with going after top guaranteed talent either in free agency or finally land a young franchise quarterback in this year’s draft.
McCarron lamented the failure of that trade and the presumed loss of his opportunity to start.
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You might be asking, with a ton of cap space and never having a good quarterback, why would the Browns settle for McCarron over Cousins?
