For NFL's contenders, a good backup QB is hard to find
Two of the most influential players in the AFC title chase could end up being Brock Osweiler of the Denver Broncos and AJ McCarron of the Cincinnati Bengals. The Indianapolis Colts' Matt Hasselbeck has had a hand in it, too, as have the Pittsburgh Steelers' Mike Vick and Landry Jones.
Common thread among those backup quarterbacks: None of them have thrown their respective teams out of the hunt, at least not yet. And that alone is a victory in a league where going .500 or better can be considered success with No. 2 (or No. 3) under center.
Just ask Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who lamented his mistakes after another offensively challenged loss behind Matt Cassel last weekend at the Green Bay Packers dropped his team to 1-8 in games not started by twice-injured Tony Romo.
“That shouldn’t have been all of it,” Jones told reporters after the game, “but it certainly was enough to diminish a lot of the hope and promise that this team had.”
Think Jones wouldn’t have paid $10 million or more in hindsight for a competent safety net?
That’s what it has cost the Indianapolis Colts over the past three years for the 40-year-old Hasselbeck to mostly sit on their bench, before Andrew Luck’s sore throwing shoulder, lacerated kidney and abdominal tear cost him six games this season (and counting).
Lopsided losses the past two weeks notwithstanding, the Colts are 4-2 with Hasselbeck at QB, keeping pace in a lousy division with the Houston Texans, who have gone through three quarterbacks themselves, with T.J. Yates likely to start Sunday’s game at Indianapolis.
“If your backup has to play and can win half of his football games,” said former NFL quarterback Sage Rosenfels, a reserve with several teams over his 12 seasons, “he should be worth $3 million a year.”
Yet there are the same number of punter contracts as backup QB contracts at that price point: The Philadelphia Eagles' Mark Sanchez ($4.5 million a year), the Jacksonville Jaguars' Chad Henne ($4 million), the New York Jets’ Ryan Fitzpatrick ($3.625 million), the Kansas City Chiefs' Chase Daniel ($3.333 million), the Minnesota Vikings' Shaun Hill ($3.25 million) and Hasselbeck ($3 million).
The Jets certainly don’t regret trading for Fitzpatrick, 33, who got the starting job after a teammate broke Geno Smith’s jaw in training camp and has helped them to an 8-5 start. The only reason the Steelers had to sign Vick off the street and later turn to Jones is veteran backup Bruce Gradkowski needed surgery to fix a dislocated finger during the preseason.
So how is it two teams that entered the season with title hopes – the Bengals and Broncos – ended up turning over their seasons to two quarterbacks (Osweiler and McCarron) who entered the year with zero NFL starts between them?
For one thing, there aren’t 32 competent quarterbacks out there, much less 64. Demand outweighs supply, and the mere the act of spending money doesn’t guarantee a return on investment. (Prime example: In Sanchez’s two starts, the Eagles were outscored 90-31.) A guy who has played in the league and now is a No. 2 generally is going to be dependent on what’s around him.
There are a lot of ways to structure the room. The presence of established starters who rarely miss time influences the deployment of resources. Other teams in the chase – including the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and New York Giants – have relatively inexperienced backup plans for their veteran starters, too. But those guys have stayed healthy.
“It’s worth it (to spend the money) if your starter does go down,” said Rosenfels, 6-6 in his 12 career starts. “I think some teams are resigned to the fact that if our starter does go down for an extended period, we’re not going to go to the Super Bowl anyway. So then, who cares, right?”
In the Broncos’ case, they may also be grooming their future with Osweiler, a second-round draft pick in 2012. Denver won his first three starts in place of an injured and ineffective Peyton Manning before last weekend’s loss to the Oakland Raiders.
The Bengals used on a fifth-round pick on McCarron last year, but also kept veteran Jason Campbell on a one-year, $1.5 million deal at the time. Depending how McCarron fares in place of Andy Dalton, who is week-to-week with a fractured thumb, the decision to proceed without an experienced insurance policy this time could prove to be a fateful one.
Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero.