Kirk Cousins in a Holding Pattern
The Washington Redskins Pro bowl quarterback has yet to sign his exclusive rights franchise tag tender. It will pay him nearly $25 million in 2017 should he sign it, but rumors keep persisting that the San Francisco 49ers continue to pursue the franchise signal caller.
We know that there was a reportedly three-team deal potentially in the making late last week that would have sent Cousins to San Francisco and Tony Romo to the Redskins. That was seemingly nothing more than a pipe dream. In no way does this mean that Cousins to the 49ers is off the table.
New 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has made it a point to target Cousins, his former quarterback in Washington. And Cousins himself has praised the 49ers' brass, Shanahan included. Though, if something were to happen here, it would have to be pretty early during free agency on Thursday. We still believe Cousins will remain with the Skins, continuing to act as a mid-tier QB1 option in the process.
Jimmy Garoppolo Could Be Off the Market
The New England Patriots' reported asking price for Garoppolo so said to be at least one first-round pick with a second-round pick mixed in. If that's truly the asking price, Garoppolo will remain with the Patriots for the 2017 season. No team is going to pay that bounty.
Though, it's highly likely that the Patriots are leaking that information what teams might be willing to give up the most for their former second-round pick. All this comes just days after New England reportedly took Garoppolo off the market completely.
The Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs have all been linked to Garoppolo. Short of one of those teams yielding a first-rounder, a trade might not be in the cards here.
Garoppolo put up four touchdowns compared to zero interceptions in two starts for the suspended Tom Brady to open the 2016 season. If given a chance to start, and depending on the situation he finds himself in, Garoppolo is a QB1 option in 2017.
Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys
Despite what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would like us to believe, Romo will not be back with the team next season. Simply put, they are not throwing $25 million at a backup quarterback. It's not happening. The only question remaining here is where Romo might end up and whether he will be traded or released.
Prior to that absurd three-team trade scenario thrown out to the masses last week, the two teams most commonly linked to Romo were the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans. Both remain atop the list in terms of potential Romo landing spots with the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears and New York Jets of the world definitely taking a back seat.
At nearly 37 years old and with just four starts under his belt over the past two seasons, Romo is surely a risk for whoever adds him. But when healthy, there's little questioning what he can do on the field. Here's a guy that put up 3,700-plus yards and 28-plus touchdown in each of his previous four full seasons.
From a fantasy standpoint, there's going to be no scenario where you rely on Romo as anything more than a QB2 option. It doesn't matter where he lands. Though, depending on the situation, he could act as that top-end QB2 option to go with your mid-to-late QB1 add.
Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears
It's not a secret that Chicago is attempting to trade Cutler. It's also not a secret that the team is going to have a hard time actually finding a landing spot for Cutler. Instead, he will likely be released outright here soon.
None of this means that Cutler won't find a starting job somewhere. He's still more talented than a good dozen starting quarterbacks in the NFL. It's now all about quarterback-needy teams doing their homework here.
Cutler's likeliest landing spot remains the New York Jets, who just hired his former quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates in the same role. Though, it wouldn't be a surprise to see San Francisco and Cleveland also show interest in Cutler.
The veteran hasn't finished better than 14th among quarterbacks in fantasy points in any of the past six seasons. He remains largely irrelevant from that aspect.
Bonkers Surrounding Mike Glennon
Glennon is apparently looking at $14 million annually on his next deal. Yes, you read that right ... zero starts the past two seasons, and $14 million annually. Teams said to be interested in Glennon are the 49ers, Bears and Jets. He's likely going to land a starting gig somewhere once free agency opens on Thursday.
So how would Glennon look from a fantasy perspective? Well, he's averaging a cool 220 passing yards with 30 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 18 career starts.
Not tremendous numbers, but much better than what we saw from Brock Osweiler before he signed an absurd $72 million contract with Houston last offseason. No real fantasy relevance here.
No Interest in Colin Kaepernick?
Now that Kap has opted out of his contract, he'll hit free agency on Thursday. After putting up 18 total touchdowns and four interceptions in 11 starts last season, some might figure Kap wold have a market. However, it's his national anthem protest that has turned some teams off. It will be interesting to see what happens here.