QB Notes: Draft, Alex Smith, Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo

December 3, 2017

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that GMs and scouts around the NFL are preparing for a potentially historic quarterback market in offseason next year, as there figures to be several quarterbacks available in free agency, the draft and for trade.

“This will be a crazy offseason,” a high-ranking official tells La Canfora. “We’re not even sure if all three (top college quarterbacks) are coming out, or how good they really are. If you have a chance to get a proven, starting quarterback — and some of these guys are still only around 30 — that’s going to be a more attractive option to a lot of teams. You’d rather get a known commodity earlier in the offseason in most cases, and there are going to be more options next year than normal.”

La Canfora says that while there should be notable draft prospects available such as Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, and Josh Allen, “the reviews remain mixed at best.”
According to La Canfora, there’s a “strong expectation” that the Chiefs will trade QB Alex Smith next year. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that Kansas City is planning to sit rookie QB Patrick Mahomes this year and then place Smith on the trading block next year.
As for Kirk Cousins, La Canfora expects him to be tagged next year, even though it will run the Redskins well over $30 million if they use their franchise designation on him for the third straight year. However, La Canfora adds that Cousins being tagged could still be a precursor to a possible trade, as they’re “very high” interest in him.
The 49ers are reportedly hoping to sign Jimmy Garoppolo to an extension, but some rival executives have told La Canfora that they would be interested in exploring trade talks for Garoppolo during the offseason. This assumes that the 49ers make a run at Cousins. It’s worth mentioning that La Canfora isn’t ruling out the 49ers franchising Garoppolo next year.
La Canfora says that the markets for Vikings quarterbacks Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater will likely be “more murky” than the other available free agents, considering that injury situations.
As for teams who figure to be in the market for quarterbacks, La Canfora lists the Jets, Giants, Bills, Jaguars, Cardinals, Browns, Dolphins, Vikings and Saints.
We have some quarterbacks featured in our Top 25 – 2018 NFL Free Agents list.