Tampa to cut Griese, possible vetran QB

[FreeTedWilliams]

NFL - Sources: Bucs expected to cut Griese loose - FOX Sports on MSN

One possibility is New England. Griese was a college teammate of Tom Brady at Michigan and the Patriots are without an experienced backup after trading Matt Cassel to Kansas City earlier this offseason. Kevin O'Connell (a 2008 third-round pick), Matt Gutierrez and rookie free agent Brian Hoyer are the only quarterbacks on the team's roster. Rookie Julian Edelman, a Kent State quarterback selected in the seventh round, is listed as a wide receiver on the Patriots' web site.


He would be "insurance" if O'Connell is not ready. I think if the Pats don't sign him, that syas more about what they think of O'Connell than Greise. He is a more than capable back-up QB.

 

[ivanfears]

NFL - Sources: Bucs expected to cut Griese loose - FOX Sports on MSN

One possibility is New England. Griese was a college teammate of Tom Brady at Michigan and the Patriots are without an experienced backup after trading Matt Cassel to Kansas City earlier this offseason. Kevin O'Connell (a 2008 third-round pick), Matt Gutierrez and rookie free agent Brian Hoyer are the only quarterbacks on the team's roster. Rookie Julian Edelman, a Kent State quarterback selected in the seventh round, is listed as a wide receiver on the Patriots' web site.


He would be "insurance" if O'Connell is not ready. I think if the Pats don't sign him, that syas more about what they think of O'Connell than Greise. He is a more than capable back-up QB.

no thanks, oconnel is fine

 

[BelichickFan]

no thanks, oconnel is fine

Indeed. I'm good with two QB this year with Hoyer on the PS.

 

[Calciumee]

I think if BB and co weren't happy with Ko'C progress, we would have signed a vet QB AGES ago!!!

 

[Patjew]

Cue the "can he rush the passer?" jokes in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

 

[PATRIOT64]

Cassel was in the system for FOUR years - O'Connell is in only one and is a much more raw QB if Brady gets injured again.

I see no reason why it would hurt to see if Griese comes in and tries out.

I would be worried even more than last year if Brady went down again and we had O'C and Gutz left.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I think if BB and co weren't happy with Ko'C progress, we would have signed a vet QB AGES ago!!!

:agree:

In any case, the Pats felt Cassel was ready to hold down the fort in 2006 and 2007, so I see no reason to assume things are any different now; I don't think they feel the need to sign a vet QB now.

If the Pats want to, say, rest Brady after he throws four TDs to Moss in the first half of the Buffalo game (hey, it's happened before ), I'd rather see O'Connell get the reps than a veteran.

 

[jmt57]

Re: Tampa to cut Griese, possible veteran QB

I agree that it would make sense that if BB was even slightly uncomfortable with KOC as the backup, that he would have already signed a veteran free agent backup QB.

Reading the article, one thing I'm not following is why Griese hasn't been cut already. It states that Griese was paid a $300,000 roster bonus earlier this offseason as insurance in case the team couldn't add new quarterback talent. They added that additional QB back on day one of the draft when they selected Josh Freeman, so why is Griese still there now? Do they think they can get a draft pick for him? Are they going to keep him around until it's time for cuts just in case another QB on their roster gets hurt? Are they thinking another team's QB might get hurt and somebody will trade for him out of desperation? If so, then I think they are over-valuing Griese; he hasn't been a starter for a long time, and there are plenty of other veteran free agent quarterbacks available.

 

[PatsDeb]

Agree with everyone else. We don't need another retread that has disappointed everywhere he has gone. BB seems comfortable keeping just our "system" QBs at this point.

 

[PatsChamp88]

Hes washed up and over the hill, I don't think any QBs will be coming here unless something dramatic happens

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I cannot for the life of me understand the continued fascination here with interception prone, aging, journeyman QB's.

 

[jmt57]

I cannot for the life of me understand the continued fascination here with interception prone, aging, journeyman QB's.

Yep, I agree - although I doubt that thinking is limited to this board or this fanbase. I mentioned in another thread that I'm not sure that I follow the rationale of so many in the media (and many fans) that a quarterback who was unable to keep his starting job elsewhere due to his performance is automatically a better choice than a quarterback that has spent the last year learning the team's playbook and sysytem.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I cannot for the life of me understand the continued fascination here with interception prone, aging, journeyman QB's.

Obviously you forgot that BB had a 40 year old Vinny on the team a few years back or did you miss this? - I guess if Vinny was O.K. with BB then it was a good move eh?

 

[Sicilian]

Cassel was in the system for FOUR years - O'Connell is in only one and is a much more raw QB if Brady gets injured again.

I see no reason why it would hurt to see if Griese comes in and tries out.

I would be worried even more than last year if Brady went down again and we had O'C and Gutz left.

Cassel was also a 7th round pick, while O'C was a 3rd. You have to expect he's going to progress faster. Also, we really don't know how Cassel would have been if he had extended playing time in his second year, because Brady never missed a game.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Obviously you forgot that BB had a 40 year old Vinny on the team a few years back or did you miss this? - I guess if Vinny was O.K. with BB then it was a good move eh?

Vinny at 43 was brought here in mid season after hanging around in TC not to back up Tom Brady but to serve as a veteran presence and sounding board for the unit which consisted of Brady and Cassel and a rookie OC. Bill doesn't consider a player a "veteran" until he's had 8 years in the league, and preferably some success... Vinny was the #3 Emergency QB for the last several games. Cassel was the #2. Vinny got to take a knee in a couple of blowouts and throw a TD pass in mopup for his trouble to pad his active career stats. The next season we went with Gutz and Vinny, fresh off his success here...signed with Carolina. It was his 6 game (2-4) swansong for fair...finally ending his career on IR.

The last time Tom had a veteran #2 brought in from outside it was Flutie the year (2005) that Cassel was drafted and Charlie departed and Cassel passed the great Rohan Davey on the depth chart as a rookie. Then you needed one.

Tom Brady now has 9 years in the league and some success to boot. Last year he even served as the unit's veteran presence on one leg hiding just out of mediot eyesight ... O'Connell is a third round draft pick with an entire season as a #2 under his belt. It generally doesn't get any better than that. Gutz has two years in and may have learned to channel his emotion and just do his job. Hoyer will likely land on the PS. They may bring someone in to camp to push the young guys, as if Brady in their ear isn't enough, but that guy will be camp fodder unless one of them totally ****s the bed. BB had a full season to watch KOC and Gutz develop last year out of our sight. I trust if he had any concerns about them someone else would be here already learning the playbook and at least one of them would be working at Walmart.

 

[Feep50]

Echo the other "No thanks" comments..... KO'C is the backup QB now. Griese doesn't add anything here. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Lugatso.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Cassel was also a 7th round pick, while O'C was a 3rd. You have to expect he's going to progress faster. Also, we really don't know how Cassel would have been if he had extended playing time in his second year, because Brady never missed a game.

Makes no sense that its a definite thing that you HAVE to expect - Look at Chris Redman drafted in the 3rd round and 124 picks above a 6th round guy named Thomas Brady. - While its more likely a 3rd rounder would adapt better to the NFL than a 7th rounder,its far from a gimme.

If you want to go farther then look at Banta-Cain who,as a 7th round pick may end up starting at OLB while players several rounds before him that draft year are bagging groceries at thier local Price Chopper right now.

 

[Deus Irae]

O'Connell was a raw player who was forced into the #2 spot by circumstances last season. Unless they think that they've seasoned him up, a veteran QB like Griese is vastly superior to carrying Gut on the roster.

 

[Sicilian]

Makes no sense that its a definite thing that you HAVE to expect - Look at Chris Redman drafted in the 3rd round and 124 picks above a 6th round guy named Thomas Brady. - While its more likely a 3rd rounder would adapt better to the NFL than a 7th rounder,its far from a gimme.

If you want to go farther then look at Banta-Cain who,as a 7th round pick may end up starting at OLB while players several rounds before him that draft year are bagging groceries at thier local Price Chopper right now.

Ok, perhaps my wording wasn't 100% clear. But my post was in reaction to the idea that, "Well, Cassel took four years before he proved himself, so we NEED someone other than O'Connell!" And my rebuttal is, we have no idea if Cassel was ready his second year because we only saw him in extremely limited duty. Also, unless drafting is completely random, it should be expected that a 3rd rounder will be ready before a 7th rounder. Doesn't always happen, but I'll bet more often than not it does.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

O'Connell was a raw player who was forced into the #2 spot by circumstances last season. Unless they think that they've seasoned him up, a veteran QB like Griese is vastly superior to carrying Gut on the roster.

Obviously trying to sneak O'Connell onto the PS would have been an EPIC FAIL, but if he was so raw, why did they keep him as #2 and Gutierrez as #3?