Free Agent Quarterback Jay Cutler During His Time With The Chicago Bears. Photo Credit: Mike Morbeck – Under Creative Commons License
The last thing you want before the pre-season even begins is to have a player get injured. That’s exactly what happened to Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill ran toward the sideline on a broken play and fell awkwardly out of bounds, injuring the same knee that he injured last year.
A player injury is always unfortunate, but when it happens to your team’s quarterback, it’s magnified. Below, I will take a look at some free agent quarterback replacements for Ryan Tannehill, if he is to miss the entire 2017 season.
1. Jay Cutler
He has openly said that he would play for the Miami Dolphins if he was to be the starter. He and head coach Adam Gase must have gotten along well in 2015 when Gase was the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. Cutler gets bad publicity, presumably from his attitude, but he is a capable quarterback.
You can’t place all the blame on Cutler for Chicago’s struggles because overall those Chicago teams were just plain bad. A change of scenery often does the trick for certain athletes, and that may be just what Cutler and his rocket arm need. Cutler would be going to a team in the Dolphins that has no turmoil and a team with a good offense and defense that surprised the NFL with a playoff berth last season.
If the Dolphins are to sign a free agent, he could be the frontrunner according to statements he made.
2. Colin Kaepernick
Before you even read the article, I’m sure this thought had crossed your mind. Any team with any quarterback issue, be it from injury or performance related, is going to consider Kaepernick until he is signed. Most would say, myself included, that he is the best free agent quarterback on the market right now.
His kneeling during the national anthem has been one of the most controversial things to happen in sports in a very long time. Kneeling aside, he can still bring value to a team as a starter or a backup. He had an outstanding 4:1 touchdown to interception ratio along with his usual great rushing stats. He put up these numbers despite having Jeremy Kerley, a New York Jets castoff, as his best-receiving target. Whether you agree or not with how Kaepernick chose to protest does not determine his value on the football field, which he still provides plenty of.
3. Robert Griffin III
RGIII gets injured like no other quarterback, which is a major reason why his career is on pause right now. He was having a fantastic rookie season before getting injured right before the playoffs began. Drafting Kirk Cousins proved to be a great idea for the Redskins, as he is now the unquestioned starter in Washington.
How much of RGIII’s struggles have been his fault? Did Mike Shanahan dismantle his confidence? Is he too injury prone? The latter may be true. We have seen flashes of brilliance, followed by cold streaks. His best bet is to latch onto a team and hopefully wrestle away the starter’s job. However, he is still not that old, being drafted only 5 years ago with plenty of gas left in the tank. The real question is does he still have the desire to play?
4. Matt Moore
Wait a minute, though. The solution may already be on the roster. When Tannehill injured the same knee last year, did the Dolphins sign a new quarterback? They did not. Due to the latency of the season, they gave the starting duties to Matt Moore, and he led them to the playoffs.
For now, this seems like the best option for Miami. He has the benefit of already knowing the offense where as a new quarterback would have to learn everything from scratch. Moore filled in admirably for the injured Tannehill going 2-2 as the starter, including the playoffs. He may not be the best talent available, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t the best man for the starting job.