Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Teams Who Totally Passed On Drew Brees...Twice

Drew Brees is universally considered one of the elite QBs in all of football.  Super nice, upsettingly accurate, a perennial Pro Bowler, and a Super Bowl Champion.  He is the heart of New Orleans, a place that probably needed him more than any other.  Yet, other teams had a shot at him.  I don’t mean the 2001 NFL Draft wherein almost every team (except the Chiefs who traded their 1st and 2nd round picks for Trent Green) passed on him until he was chosen 33rd overall.  I mean the second time around when the Chargers let him hit free agency.  He was free for the taking, and yet the interest was low.  Eventually, New Orleans took a risk on his shoulder, and everyone knows the rest of that story. 

So, here are the top 10 teams who probably should have offered Drew a contract, but instead thought “Nah, we’re cool with this terrible situation.  Elite quarterback, shmelite quarterback.”  It’s the mistake (oops), the silver lining (at least), and the guy they went with instead of Brees (QBOTF).

10) San Diego Chargers

Oops: We had Schottenheimer, Prime LT, Prime Brees, and we decided to spend the time to develop a new guy?  This was a defense with roided Merriman, run-stuffing Williams, and ball-hawk Cromartie.  The window for SD was pretty big, but taking away from Tomlinson’s best seasons to grow Rivers?  That limited the window.  And by the time Rivers was ready to live up to his potential, LT was pretty much done.  All future ventures rest heavily with Rivers.

At least: You did it for one of the premiere QBs in the league.  Rivers is a stud, and could easily be a championship quarterback.  I would personally rate Brees as better, but I think it is certainly debatable.  Rivers has the deep ball, Brees has the accuracy—but Brees now has a championship.  And methinks he would have at least one if San Diego had retained him.

QBOTF: Philip Rivers (again, hard to complain, even if it possibly did cost them a Super Bowl).

9) Chicago Bears

Oops: The 2006 Bears were an impressive team.  Excellent defense, best return man in the game, good rushing game, strong receiving performances—this was a team that had it all.  Except a quarterback.  So they signed Brian Griese, but eventually went with mostly Rex Grossman.  The results were pretty darn good: an NFC championship.  The bad news: a sad Super Bowl and a hole at QB for years to come.  If only they went after Brees…who knows?  This could be a dynasty.

At least: They played in a Super Bowl, they now have Jay Cutler and found themselves in the NFC Championship recently.  However, things are still shaky at QB.  Not going after Brees has led most of the teams on the list to severe rough patches.  The Bears were on the cusp of excellence and ignored one of the best QBs in the game.

QBOTF: Rex Grossman/Brian Griese

8) Tennessee Titans

Oops: Talented team with the 3rd overall pick.  It just makes sense to take the top QB available.  The bad news is that some years just don’t have anything to offer from the QB position.  Vince Young was a raw product, but has developed his talent pretty well.  The bad news is that he has not developed a maturity necessary to lead an NFL team.

At least: They had some level of success with Young, and now they will usher in a new era with Jake Locker. 

7) Arizona Cardinals

Oops: Matt Leinart at 10th overall!  What he lacked in arm strength, or even accuracy, he made up for with intangibles.  And I am honestly willing to believe that, mostly.  Of course, he also lacked intangibles, but an excellent USC team masked that fact.  Like Ryan Leaf, the end zone was his second love.  His first, of course, was a club called The End Zone.  Probably.  It is tough to blame a team for wanting to start with a new first round QB.  That is how you usually need to build.  They just picked the wrong guy.

At least: They acquired Kurt Warner and came within inches of a Super Bowl.  Warner, signed to back up the young southpaw, played Hall of Fame football for several seasons before hanging up the cleats—nearly at the top of his game.  Of course, now they are again sans starter.  It turns out Warner was important.

QBOTF: Matt Leinart

6) Minnesota Vikings

Oops: Brad Johnson keeps hold of the helm while a poor man’s (to the tune of a mid-2nd round) Michael Vick develops.  This was the story Minnesota was led to believe.  Pardon my disapproving head shakes, but that is a poor strategy.  See: Don't Draft a QB with a 2nd/3rd Round Pick.

At least: The Jets got grew weary of Brett Favre, the Vikings scooped him up, and eventually had a magical season.  Not as magical as the one Drew Brees had, but Brees doesn’t have a propensity for choking like the Camera Man.  The Saints have a brighter next few seasons than the QB-less Vikings.

QBOTF: Tarvaris Jackson

5) New York Jets

Oops: Veterans like Chad Pennington were not enough, but a veteran like Brett Favre was.  Oops numbero uno.  Of course, they had a backup plan in 2nd rounder Kellen Moore.  Unfortunately, 2nd round pick Kellen Moore was drafted in the 2nd round, and they expected to just hand him the reigns.  See: Don't Draft 2/3rd...

At least: They had some level of commitment to a guy like Pennington.  Of course, they took it to garbage very quickly for Favre (and not Brees).  But the real “at least” is the drafting of Mark Sanchez.  He doesn’t look like someone with the QB chops of the elite, but he is having success.  A lot of it may be the product around him, but in two years, he has made this team nearly championship caliber.  Like him or not, no way do the Jets have this success with some other joker, and he is only improving.

QBOTF: Kellen Moore

4) Oakland Raiders

Oops: The 2005 season was a 4-12 failure with Kerry Collins at the helm.  A change had to come. “We’ve got 3rd round pick Andrew Walter waiting in the wings soon, so investing money in Brees would be silly,” they thought.  So, they signed Aaron Brooks and went 2-14.  And then they drafted JaMarcus Russell. 

At least: I don’t know.  I really don’t.  In an alternate world, the Raiders signed Brees, drafted Calvin Johnson, and are an an elite team.  What else?  Jason Campbell is better than Aaron Brooks?  And maybe Pryor will be good.  No?  Well, they went 6-0 in the division last season, and their defense is pretty good.

QBOTF: Aaron Brooks/Andrew Walter

3) Cleveland Browns

Oops: The Browns went with the “bad vet, non-1st” approach, with Trent Dilfer, Derek Anderson, and Charlie Frye the season before this one—and they stuck with Frye for the future.  Unfortunately, that is usually a bad choice, despite how much logical sense it may make.  They recently did that again with Jake Delhomme and Colt McCoy.  Maybe it will work out.

At least: McCoy shows more promise than Frye.  Whereas Frye was all hype, McCoy has looked legitimately good against competition that isn’t the Pittsburgh Steelers.  If he didn’t play them twice a year, I might be forced to fully believe in him.  Then again, once a person is repeatedly hit by James Harrison, Troy Polamalu, Lamaar Woodley, an Ray Lewis et al, your chance of being “ruined” is up.

QBOTF: Charlie Frye

2) Detroit Lions

Oops: If Brees had gone to Detroit, he might have been a failure.  No one is immune from curses—even the Madden Curse forced Drew to throw a career high of picks followed by a playoff exit to the 7-9 Seahawks.  And the Lions may not have had a chance to even land Brees—so again, hard to fault them.  One thing is certain, though.  They needed a quarterback.  So, they signed free agent Jon Kitna.  Afterwards, they shuffled through quarterbacks and went 0-16 in 2008.  The Saints, of course, won the Super Bowl the following season.  Number 2 on the list less out of blame—mostly out of pain.

At least: The Lions went on to draft Matt Stafford who has looked talented in limited time.  The good news is that injuries led to a bad season wherein Suh was drafted.  Yay.

QBOTF: Jon Kitna/Dan Orlovsky

1) Miami Dolphins

Oops: The Dolphins were legitimately interested in acquiring Brees.  The only two teams who approached Brees in a serious way were the Saints and Phins, so hats off to Miami for considering him.  Instead of signing Brees, Nick Saban thought it wise to trade a second round pick for Daunte Culpepper.  So…hats back on!  While Brees was coming off a shoulder injury, Culpepper was coming off a knee injury.  He immediately struggled, and his era as the Dolphins preferred starter was over after one season.

At least: There is no at least.  Chad Henne has struggled.  This is a team with a whole lot of talent and one gaping hole at quarterback.  In their 2009 championship run, the 5-0 Saints were getting crushed by the Dolphins 24-3.  Unfortunately, Brees broke hearts in Miami once again.  A relentless comeback, capped by a Brees TD dive was the final dagger.  Not to mention when Brees dunked the ball over the goalpost, as if to literally stab a football into the collective heart of Miami.


A list of the QBs in Miami since Dan Marino (last start 1999):
-Damon Huard, Jay Fiedler, Ray Lucas, Brian Griese, A.J. Feeley, Sage Rosenfels, Gus Frerotte, Daunte Culpepper, Joey Harrington, Cleo Lemon, Trent Green, John Beck, Chad Pennington, Chad Henne, Tyler Thigpen

To put that in perspective, New England QBs since 1999:
Drew Bledsoe, Tom Brady, Matt Cassel

QBOTF: Daunte Culpepper