The Washington Redskins need to sign a quarterback pronto.
Losing Alex Smith to a broken leg was bad enough, but now the team faces a short week and has only one quarterback, Colt McCoy, in the building. The team is bringing in a group of quarterbacks for workouts, which according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport include Mark Sanchez, EJ Manuel, Josh Johnson, Kellen Clemens and TJ Yates.
If you think the Redskins are scraping the bottom of the barrel, consider two things. One, the team is looking for someone already familiar enough with its coaches and systems. Two, the other unemployed NFL quarterbacks are unemployed for one reason or another.
Here are five other quarterbacks on the market right now, none of whom appear likely right now to make it to Redskins Park for a workout:
1. Sam Bradford
The quarterback who started against the Redskins in Week 1 of this season is on the market. The Arizona Cardinals released him on Nov. 3 after he played only three uninspiring games for them — including going 20-for-34 for 153 yards, an interception and no touchdowns against Washington in the season opener. The former first overall pick is 31 years old, and his bumpy NFL career might be over after this season if no team picks him up for one last run.
SEE ALSO: Redskins reportedly not interested in Colin Kaepernick
2. Nathan Peterman
Don’t laugh. OK, you can laugh a little. Peterman owns what some consider the worst quarterback career in NFL history. He hasn’t played much since the Buffalo Bills drafted him in the fifth round in 2017, but when he has gotten in he’s been atrocious. He throws an interception on 9.2 percent of his passes. He’s only played in eight games, but that is a big enough sample size for a good verdict on his ability. However, the Detroit Lions brought him in for a workout shortly after Buffalo cut him this month, so we may not have heard the last of The Peter Man.
3. Matt Moore
Let’s move on to a more level-headed, though hardly exciting, option. Moore was starting games at quarterback as recently as last year for Miami, but no team picked him up in the offseason. Moore was a career back-up from 2007 to 2017, but back-up is all the Redskins need him to be. He’s 34, but it wasn’t that long ago that he threw for four touchdowns in a game in 2016.
4. Paxton Lynch
Could this 2016 first-round pick already be out of football? At the moment, yes, but at 24 years old it would be shocking if he never got onto a team again. The Dolphins and Titans have worked him out here and there this year, so like Peterman, all hope is not lost. But Lynch’s time in Denver was doomed — from falling behind the likes of Trevor Siemian on the depth chart to injuring his shoulder in the 2017 preseason.
5. Colin Kaepernick
Put aside, for one minute, however you feel about Kaepernick’s political views or his leading role in starting the pre-game kneeling protests during the national anthem. Whenever a team suddenly needs a quarterback, as the Redskins do now, a certain group of people call for them to sign Kaepernick, who has been out of the league since the end of the 2016 season. Not long ago, Alex Smith suffered an injury while with the San Francisco 49ers, and Kaepernick came in, shocked the world and brought the 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII. Who says that can’t happen again?
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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