Most of this year’s free agent quarterbacks are off the market, but there are some proven quantities out there who still don’t know where — or if — they’ll be playing this fall.
Your team needs someone who can get you to the playoffs? Each of these five have taken teams to the postseason:
Colin Kaepernick
It’s hard to believe that Kaepernick is just four years removed from leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl.
Kaepernick supplanted Alex Smith as San Francisco’s starter in 2012 and immediately made an impact, throwing for 1,814 yards and 10 touchdowns while leading the 49ers to the playoffs.
Kaepernick put together another solid season in 2013, his first full season as a starter. He threw for 3,197 yards and 21 touchdowns. San Francisco made another deep playoff run, and it looked as if Kaepernick was becoming one of the league’s best quarterbacks.
His numbers remained steady in 2014, but the 49ers finished 8-8. Kaepernick played just nine games in 2015 as San Francisco finished 5-11.
Kaepernick was supposed to be the type of mobile quarterback who thrived under Chip Kelly, so there were signs of optimism as last season began. But those signs quickly went away as Kaepernick made headlines by electing to kneel during the national anthem. The protests became a distraction in the locker room and San Francisco suffered a disastrous 2-14 season.
The 49ers decided to move on from both Kelly and Kaepernick following their worst season since 2004. But what gets lost in the protests is that Kaepernick was productive in 2016.
His passer rating in 2016 was 90.7, not far off from the 91.6 rating he posted in 2013. Last season, his 55.2 total QBR ranked ahead of several starters, including Ryan Tannehill, Carson Wentz, and Cam Newton.
Is Kaepernick being blackballed for protesting during the national anthem? Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn’t think so.
“I haven’t heard from our clubs that that’s an issue,” Goodell said at the league’s owners meetings. “My experience in 35 years is that our clubs make independent evaluations of players. They work hard to try to improve their teams.”
Kaepernick has at least one person who believes in him — his former coach, Jim Harbaugh.
“I think he’s an outstanding player and I think he’s a great competitor who has proven it in games and has the ability to be not only an NFL starter but a great NFL player,” Harbaugh told Pro Football Talk.
The current Michigan head coach even went as far as saying that he believes Kaepernick will win multiple Super Bowls.
“He’ll have a great career and be a great quarterback, win championships,” Harbaugh said.
Kaepernick is reportedly asking for $9-10 million as season in a new contract along with the chance to start. That would mean he’s looking for a better deal than Josh McCown and Brian Hoyer got earlier this month. A team would likely bring in Kaepernick at the right price, but he may need to temper his expectations a little.
Tony Romo
Romo is the biggest quarterback domino yet to fall, and teams may be waiting to see where Romo ends up before deciding on the position for next season.
When healthy, Romo is one of the league’s best. In 2014, Romo threw for 3,705 yards and 34 touchdowns as the Cowboys were a controversial Dez Bryant non-catch away from reaching the NFC Championship game.
The knock on Romo has always been his inability to perform in the playoffs. He is 2-4 lifetime in the postseason but was excellent in his most recent appearance, throwing for 293 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-20 victory.
Acquiring Romo doesn’t come without risk, as he has played in just five games the past two seasons. His injury history could scare teams away.
Romo remains under contract with the Cowboys, but Dallas is expected to trade or release him before the start of next season.
He would have no shortage of potential suitors, but Denver and Houston seem like the most likely landing spots for the 36 year old.
The Texans traded Brock Osweiler to the Browns to dump salary and presumably make room for Romo, and appear to be a quarterback away from seriously contending in the AFC.
The Broncos have long been a rumored destination for Romo, but General Manager John Elway insists they plan to stick with Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch.
“Nope. Same old thing. He’s still under contract with the Cowboys,” Elway said. “Like we’ve said, we feel really good about the two young ones that we have. Trevor [Siemian] did a good job for us last year and Paxton [Lynch] was young. The plan is to stay the course and see what’s available in the draft. We’ll go from there.”
Jay Cutler
Cutler never lived up to the 7-year, $126 million contract he signed with the Bears in 2014, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still help a team in need of a quarterback.
Cutler led the Bears to the NFC Championship game in 2011, but has not returned to the playoffs since.
Cutler takes a lot of the blame for the Bears’ playoff drought, but he had a solid 2015 season before missing 11 games last season with a shoulder injury.
He led the league in interceptions in 2014 as the Bears finished 5-11. But Cutler bounced back in 2015, throwing for 3,659 yards and 21 touchdowns while Chicago finished 6-10.
Although Cutler remains unemployed more than a month into free agency, Dolphins coach and former Bears Offensive Coordinator Adam Gase gave Cutler a vote of confidence at the owners meetings.
“My experience with him was very good,” Gase said. “I don’t get all the hatred towards him. I see a guy that worked hard and did everything he could to help his team win. He sacrificed his body. To me, he was an athletic quarterback that can throw the ball. When you got to third down you could call the worst play possible and he would get the conversion. He made a lot of things that we did look really good. I think he has a lot to offer a team.”
The rest of the league is wondering where Cutler will end up next season, but he doesn’t seem too worried about it.
His wife Kristin Cavallari posted a photo recently on Instagram of a nude Cutler looking pensively out into the sea while on vacation.
One of Cutler’s former receivers, Brandon Marshall, found the revealing shot hilarious.
“Jay, what the hell you doing?” Marshall said. “Jay Cutler, I’ve known you since we were drafted in 2006. What the hell you doing?”
Robert Griffin III
Griffin took the league by storm as a rookie in 2012, throwing for 3,200 yards and rushing for 815 more as the Redskins won the NFC East.
Griffin suffered a torn ACL in a wild-card loss to the Seahawks in January 2013 and has never been the same since. Griffin struggled in 2013 and played just nine games in 2014 as the team suffered two straight losing seasons.
Kirk Cousins took over as the Redskins’ starter at the start of 2015 and hasn’t looked back. Cousins threw for 4,166 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2015 as Washington returned to the postseason.
Cousins followed up his breakout season by throwing for 4,917 yards and 25 touchdowns last season. Griffin was released by the Redskins and went to Cleveland, where he appeared in five games and threw just two touchdowns last year.
Griffin is barely hanging on in the NFL. It looks like his extensive injury history is keeping teams away from the former Offensive Rookie of the Year. The Browns took a flyer on Griffin’s upside last season, but he couldn’t stay healthy.
Meanwhile, his replacement in Washington could become one of the league’s highest paid quarterbacks in the coming months.
Tim Tebow
Tebow is currently busy playing baseball, but he’s just a few years removed from leading the Broncos to a playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It hasn’t been that long since Tebow directed a magical six game winning streak that included four game-winning drives.
Tebow’s run as a starter came to an end on a chilly night in Foxborough following a 45-10 blowout loss to the Patriots. The former University of Florida star was traded to the Jets that offseason, and spent the next two seasons fighting for an NFL job.
Tebow has pretty much proven he can’t be a successful quarterback in the NFL, but you never know if a team would want to take a chance on rekindling his 2011 magic.
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