Featured Image Credit: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Folks, today is one of the most bittersweet days of the calendar year: Super Bowl Sunday. It’s a day that in its own right is absolutely awesome. It’s filled with friends, food, football, and parties. But what comes after the Super Bowl is never ideal as it’s the long offseason where there’s nothing to do except wait for football to return.
That being said, this offseason should have some fireworks unlike never before. I can’t recall in my lifetime ever having an offseason quarterback carousel this insane. We already saw Matthew Stafford get moved to Los Angeles in exchange for Jared Goff and a haul of picks. There are rumors that a Carson Wentz deal is almost done.
On top of that, this quarterback draft class is highly volatile as well. Aside from Trevor Lawrence being an absolute lock to go to Jacksonville at number 1, there are a litany of differing opinions on guys like Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, and Trey Lance. It’s only going to get weirder, folks.
So let’s break down some landing spots for the four quarterbacks who I think will be moved via trade this offseason. Let’s start with the most obvious one…
Carson Wentz- Chicago Bears
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Rumors have been heating up over the past 24 hours that a deal is almost done to send Carson Wentz to the Chicago Bears for a first round pick, Nick Foles, and an offensive player.
Personally, I have very mixed feelings on this trade for the Bears. Chicago is a place where quarterbacks go to die and Carson Wentz doesn’t seem to have the kind of guts to play in a situation like that. Only time will tell if this trade will actually work out.
Deshaun Watson- New York Jets
In the biggest blockbuster trade of them all, I have the Jets landing the most prized quarterback that’s on the trade market this offseason. When it’s all said and done, the Jets have the most valuable draft capital of any team in the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes and that’s the 2nd overall pick. That gives the Texans a lot of flexibility to take their next franchise guy or trade back to acquire even more first round picks to completely rebuild their team.
The Jets are also desperate for a franchise quarterback. They haven’t been to the playoffs in over a decade now and they play in the toughest media market on the planet, albeit as the second fiddle. This a team whose fan base is tired and can get behind selling the farm for a top quarterback like Watson. Which brings us to our next player…
Sam Darnold- Pittsburgh Steelers
In a move that may be surprising to some, I don’t have the Jets packaging Sam Darnold into the trade they could eventually make with the Houston Texans. If the Texans end up picking with the 2nd pick then I firmly believe that they will go quarterback and the Jets will end up dealing Darnold elsewhere.
The perfect landing spot for Darnold is the Pittsburgh Steelers. There’s no doubt that Ben Roethlisberger is on the back nine (more like he’s on the green of hole 18 getting ready for a tap in putt) and Darnold could use the stability of the Steelers organization to learn under and take over as soon as next season potentially.
Derek Carr- New England Patriots
There have been whispers out of the Raiders camp that they are trying to move on from either Derek Carr or Marcus Mariota. While Carr is a fine quarterback, he’s nothing special and likely doesn’t have the ability to carry a team to the Super Bowl.
Enter Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.
Their specialty in New England is taking an average player and getting the absolute best out of them. You could argue that the Patriots would be a significantly more threatening team with Derek Carr at the helm than anyone on their current roster right now. I could absolutely see them pulling the trigger on this move.