Lamanai

Now that jay Fiedler is off the market, who is the favorite to become the Patriots veteran clipboard holder ?

There are a few unappealing Free Agents available, but I haven't seen any names worth metioning. So I guess that leaves us with possible late preseason cuts. Hard to say who will be availabel because of injuries, young guys stepping up or not, etc... But here are a few possiblities (feel free to add):

Damon Huard
Todd Collins
Jesse Palmer
Tim Rattay

Out of that grouping, I would prefer Rattay. IIR, he was mentioned in "Patriot Reign" as the *other guy* the late Dick Rehbein recommended. Any other possible cuts we should be looking at ?

tombonneau

Didn't realize Rattay was available. I think he would make an excellent #2/3. Got some starter experience, and never really was able to develop properly on a crappy SF team. And he's not too old either, so if it works out he could stick around for awhile. Makes sense to me.

Lamanai

He's not really available, but I am speculating that he could be cut. he is looking for a job with Tampa Bay, and they have the ofollowing QBs listed on their roster:

Simms - Starter
Fieldler -Just signed as backup
McCown - Young prospect, recovering from knee injury
Gradkoswki - 6th round draft choice
Rattay - ???


Again, I am just guessing that he is vulnerable, and could become available. What if we spun them a 6th round pick ?

spacecrime

He's not. This is one of those threads where you pick a player on another team that you want for the pats because he is a good player and will really help the pats, and then say the other team will cut him because ... well, the logic escapes me here. But if we are going to pick a backup QB currently under contract for another team, the heck with Rattay. Let's pick up David Garrard.

pats1

Huard won't be cut unless Casey Printers beats him out. Unlikely.

(#1 - Trent Green. #2 - Brodie Croyle (3rd round pick). #3 - Damon Huard. #4 - Casey Printers (hasn't played an NFL down - former CFL player)

Todd Collins won't be cut unless Corey's brother Casey Bramlet beats him out. Unlikely.

(#1 - Mark Brunell. #2 - Jason Campbell. #3 - Todd Collins. #4 - Casey Bramlet.)

Jesse Palmer won't be cut unless Shaun Hill beats him out. Cody Pickett sealed his fate when he elected not to to go NFLE.

(#1 - Alex Smith. #2 - Trent Dilfer. #3 - Jesse Palmer. #4 - Cody Pickett. #5 - Shaun Hill. #6 - Bryson Spinner (UDFA)

Fanfrom1960

Rattay was awful for the 49ers, coughing up decent leads, throwing Ints at all the wrong times (as if there is a right time). Even though he was on a bad team, the QB job was his to lose, and he lost it. Say no to him, please.

Edit, had more time than I thought: the thing about Rattay is that he would actually be playing pretty well in the first half, help build up a lead, then the defense would get after him more and he'd fold, throwing the ball up for grabs with any pressure at all on him. He doesn't move well in the pocket either. Not what I'd want, a second half folder, that is.

Welker83

collins followed saunders to the skins...he wont be going anywhere cause he knows the sytem.

__________________
The funny thing about Karma is that it always tends to get you when you least expect it...

tombonneau

According to espn.com these are the FA QBs out there (obv. not totally up-to-date given Fiedler's inclusion)

Ragone & Wallace are RFAs with HOU & SEA respectively.

Of them, I'd rather spend a little extra $$ and sign Collins if its feasible. Say what you want about the guy, I think he's the only one on that list the Pats could win a significant number of games with if The Unspeakable happens.

Or maybe O'Sullivan. Dont know much about him, but he's a younger guy, i.e. unconfirmed turd, so he could have some upside.

pats1

Ragone was waived in May by the Texans. The Bengals claimed him, and then traded Ragone to the Rams for a draft pick. This was the first move of the new Rams' GM (Softli), and was scrutinized because Ragone was reportedly going to be released by the Bengals anyway.

J.T. O'Sullivan has been with (still is) with the Vikings since his signing in November.

Wallace re-signed awhile ago.

Shaun Hill was signed by the 49ers last month.

Kliff Kingsbury was claimed off waivers from the Jets by the Bills in June. He's still with the Bills.

Shane Matthews will probably just retire.

I wouldn't touch Kordell Stewart with a 10-foot stick.



KFFL has the most updated free agent roster (certainly not complete by any means (no Kole Ayi or T.J. Turner!), but since KFFL's database is updated with every little waiver pickup, move, and retirement, this list is highly accurate):

http://www.kffl.com/nfldc.php/38/nfl


Ricky Ray is there, and is a big star up in the CFL. Didn't look that bad in a CFL game I saw on NESN last week. Didn't last too long with the Jets though in the NFL, so I wouldn't go there either.

The players with recent on that free agent list have a graphic next to them. You can tell it's updated despite it saying May 29th on the bottom, as Adrian Mayes is on there, who was just released yesterday.

And here's a chart, if you need it, of recently retired players:

http://www.kffl.com/nfldc.php/73/nfl

And for the Pats:

http://www.kffl.com/nfldc.php/24/nfl

GoWhalers

Aside from Kerry Collins, I'd go for Tony Banks off of that list. He actually filled in decently when David Carr went down injured in Houston back in 2003. He was 2-1 in games started, beating Carolina and Atlanta, and losing to the Pats 20-23.

Banks is one of those guys who you're always trying to replace on your roster, but then will show up as a second-stringer and surprisingly win a game or two.