The NFL free agent quarterback market is in a sad place right now

The NFL quarterback market is a pretty tough scene.

Thanks to how quickly the NFL Combine and free agency arrive on the calendar, there are no real breaks from after the Super Bowl until they begin. We are fortunate in that sense.

While last week brought the beginning of the NCAA Tournament, that is also synonymous with the first doldrums of the offseason for the NFL. All of the notable free agent things have happened and the NFL Draft is still a bit away. Now is when we grind. This is why we lift all of those weights.

Interestingly there are still some significant things that have yet to be taken care of which allows us opportunity to speculate. This is what we here at The Skinny Post, Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, do best and we are about to do it again.

Let’s begin.

The quarterback market is depressing right now

RJ:

On Monday morning I saw a tweet from Henry McKenna that said there seem to be five quarterbacks out there (Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders and Kirk Cousins with a question mark) with only four real openings (Steelers, Giants, Browns and Titans). It makes sense to come to this conclusion.

While that is true... how boring and depressing. Literally none of these players or teams feel like significant needle-movers relative to the league as a whole so it is impossible to draw a connection between two that will be appealing in my mind.

If any options carry that potential in a mild sense they are Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders because they are unknown commodities at the NFL level, but I am more than firm in my stance on Rodgers, Wilson and Cousins.

Blah.

Michael:

Absolutely. This current quarterback situation is extremely boring. Cam and Shedeur both provide the only minuscule amount of excitement in regards to any “new quarterback joins new team” situation but that’s only because they’re the two quarterbacks in the draft and, as you said, relative unknowns. But in my honest opinion, those two being the top passers this draft class feels mainly due to their being no real bonafide franchise player. Ward and Sanders are good quarterbacks! But I don’t think either would have been top-10 picks last year, with Sanders likely being a second-rounder had he come out.

If I had to pick my favorite pairing, it’s Rodgers to the Steelers because at least he would get to go out with a team that usually has a very high floor and now also has a new wideout in D.K. Metcalf. Plus, I’d love to see how Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers get along on the sidelines. Potentially seeing those two argue in a losing effort might be worth the price of admission.

Which remaining veteran free agent wide receiver do you think would be the most impactful with their (eventual) new team: Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper, or Stefon Diggs?

Michael:

There’s three big names left on the market in terms of wide receivers. All three, at some point in time during their respective careers, have been amongst the league’s best. But now, they’re all over the age of 30 and coming off rough seasons for one reason or another.

At some point, they’re all going to sign with a team. It’s inevitable. So my question here is, which one do you think will be the most impactful for their team this year? And yes, the specific team they sign with could change their impact significantly, but let’s just skip that variable for now.

All three are old and Diggs is specifically coming off a torn ACL at age 31. However, I actually think it’s Diggs who will be the best addition out of these three. Before he went down for the year, he was having another solid campaign and was roughly on pace for another 1,000-yard season with the Texans.

Allen and Cooper were contributors for their respective teams, but none were anywhere near the pace of Diggs. The injury is scary, yes, but Diggs still looked to have much more juice than the other two when on the field last season. He’s my pick here.

RJ:

My answer is heavily based on whatever team the receiver in question would end up on. I recognize this has been stated but needed to say it myself, and under the right set of circumstances I could absolutely see Amari Cooper thriving once more.

Amari’s greatest asset has always been his route-running. If you were to drop him on a team where he didn’t have to elevate the pass-catcher group by himself (like he arguably had to do at times in Cleveland and Buffalo) then I could really see him shining.

Imagine Amari with the Miami Dolphins as an example. He would work so well underneath with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle running all over the place downfield.

Is there a team who you haven’t thought about in a while, if so who and why?

RJ:

It feels like there were no HUGE splashes in free agency, but it also feels like just about every team made at least some mild waves or movements in the overall pool of water.

While that is true there were/are some teams who seem more content to sit on the wall and chill while everyone else was dancing... or tried to dance and looked awkward in the process. I feel like the Indianapolis Colts are somewhere in the middle of those two analogies as they are one of the most boring teams in the league right now to me.

Consider that the big, franchise-changing thing that Indy did this offseason was sign Daniel Jones. It is not hard for us football fans to get excited about controversy at the quarterback position, but are you enthralled by the idea of Daniel Jones duking it out with Anthony Richardson? Yawn.

The Colts have been wayward for a while now and don’t seem to even know where to begin on how to get out. It is tough.

Michael:

I’m staying in the same division and going with the Tennessee Titans. And they have the first-overall pick!

This team just seems so incredibly boring and I don’t think they’ve done anything thus far in free agency to make me think any better about them. They’ll get a quarterback (likely Cam Ward) and then what? He’ll throw to Calvin Ridley and...that’s it. What run game? Who is crushing it for their defense? What does this team have to hang their hat on? They were so much cooler under Mike Vrabel because it felt like they had an identity and then they ditched him because being average-to-good each year wasn’t good enough, so they fired him and then earned the first-overall pick.

Love it when a plan (doesn’t) come together.

The UFL kicks off their second season this weekend. Will you be watching?

Michael:

So I’ve always loved every single spring football league that has come out in recent years. I was invested in the Alliance of American Football back in 2019 and I’ve been watching every ounce of the XFL and UFL since they’ve been established, including the shortened 2020 season.

The 2025 UFL season kicks off this Sunday, March 30th. Several family friends have been on the coaching staff of the Arlington Renegades for the past few years and I’ll once again be cheering on the 2023 XFL Champions and the King of Spring himself, Luis Perez.

Spring football leagues are always a fun time because you get to hear a lot of names you likely forgot about in recent years, specifically former college standouts and NFL players you remember seeing for a year or two before they disappeared without a trace.

Have you been a spring football watcher in recent years? Will you be watching this year at all?

RJ:

The Alliance was definitely a league that I had some serious interest in, I think partly because it was the first real one to show up and show out. It felt like spring football was legitimately possible, but unfortunately the league sadly folded before finishing their inaugural season.

Ultimately I like that the spring leagues exist and applaud that they do so that players can continue to work on their craft and hopefully find spots in the NFL. Consider that the Dallas Cowboys have two special teams stars in KaVontae Turpin and Brandon Aubrey who may not have been discovered if not for these leagues existing.

More football is not a bad thing. Ever.