Early Trade Deadline Kills Late Trade Magic

Although just an opinion, I prefer an early trade deadline.

By having an early trade deadline, you force coaches to put a stake in the ground. They have to plan for contingencies. They have to consider their team’s vulnerabilties, ex ante. To me, if Seattle proves that Dallas can’t compete without Flo, then we simply were not deep enough at a key position.

Lack of depth is not losing on a technicality. It’s not worthy of an asteric or a footnote.

Lack of depth is simply a lack of talent. Simple enough.

I disagree. I’ve seen teams lose three good players at a position in a short time. I recall a Thanksgiving Day game in the Landry era where Tom fielded five guards as his o-line.

Were his personnel people inadequate to stock the team, or did that Cowboys team have bad luck?

To me, the most interesting debate is whether we should throw our hat into the Rivers sweepstakes this summer.

Unless the wheels come off, we should win 10 or more games this year, and with a little luck, maybe a playoff game. Of course, I don’t rule anything out including a super bowl.

But when you have a 10 or 11 win team with as many young and talented players as we do, then you have to love the idea of matching it with a potential franchise QB that was picked 4th in the 2004 draft.

If the price was right, I would make a deal for Rivers.

I don’t disagree with that. The Cowboys scouted Rivers heavily and had him on their very short list when he came out. He was drafted much higher than even they expected.

That said, the price will be steep. Because there are teams like the Jets, Lions and even the Bucs whose QBs — or lack of QBs — are the only things keeping them from the playoffs. When you’re that close, you do desperate things.

Rafael,

Definitely bad luck. But lots of depth can often protect against bad luck.

To the extent you move the trade deadline back, you shift more of the emphasis away from the 53 man roster and toward the starting lineup.

If I know I can replace my injured players as needed, then I put a much larger % of my money on my starters. A wait-and-see strategy becomes a good way to play the cap.

Yes. You’re probably right. In the end, you don’t want to get into a bidding war alongside a desperate team, and as you say, those teams are definitely desperate.

RAF, Mad

I think that Rivers will be as much a project as the two back ups we have now. No way he knocks Bledsoe out in training camp next season, and no way he waits around three more years untill Bledsoe/BP are finish getting the Cowboys back on top. This will be the second year he has had to wait….

Add the fact that There are as you say many suitors for him who are close to being SB contenders – maybe closer than Dallas – why would he come here?

I think the deadline being so early means that few big time trades happen during the season.

saying that, does the complexity of football strategy and playbooks prevent late season acquisitions? Could a player pick up a different playbook and be useful with 5 games left in the season? Could a TE pick up all the blitzes and blocking duties in time? A RB? A QB?

AlanTdot,

I don’t know if playbooks could be picked up that soon, but I’m sure there are players and teams willing to find out.

Trades are one of the fun parts of fandom. Think how much press baseball gets at the trading deadlines. Think how crazy everybody gets on draft day. The NFL gets that part. But the early deadline suppresses more moves and cuts the overall level of excitement and speculation. I find it hard to believe that a league as publicity conscious as the NFL only gets half the picture.

If we were a SB contender, we will be after the injuries. It just means our approach will be a little more different. More two back sets, more two tight end sets and a higher percentage of run plays.

We will be fine, as long as our defense continues to improve.

If the small possibility that we make it to the conference championships or the Super Bowl happens, does anyone know if Flo will be healthy by then?

If Adams is having ACL reconstruction it is highly unlikely he’ll be back.

Anybody know anything about Brook’s strengths/weaknesses in the last few years. I think someone talked about him being strong on straight ahead run blocking and bull rush pass blocking but not fleet afoot for pulling or quick DE’s. But it sounded like a Draft eval. Anything?

If Adams is put on IR he can’t play again this year regardless if he physically could.

I agree the trade deadline needs to be moved deeper into
the season.What alot of you are missing is the lack of
depth on so many teams is because of the salary cap
and free agency today teams can’t afford the depth.

Look at B.P. 1990 Giant team which won the S.B.
against Buff.Backup QB(hoss), Backup RB O.J.
Anderson SB MVP ,the Two starting safties were
rookies because of injuries.There could be more
players but you get the picture.No way today you
could have that kind of depth.

Before the CAP and FA you had very little movement
now 90% of it is in the offseason….it would be nice
to see some during the season especially late say
nov.30th.

Becker,

great point. I am also not happy with the lack of depth in this Free Agency period and perhaps the trade dedline could bring some of that back. Very interesting proposition.

Actually, I think the main reason teams have less depth is the league’s expansion. Too many teams means too little talent.

Remnant,

But they’re only added four teams since the mid ’70s, the Jags, Texans, Panthers and new Browns.

When they had 26 and 28 teams in the ‘70s and ’80s you had sustained dynasties. No, free agency artificially drives talent away from good teams to mediocre ones. It IS possible to draft too well in this new system. Say Dallas has another draft next year as good as this one, where they get five or six more starting quality players. Then you have one year where you have to fine money to pay six guys big deals. You simply can’t do it, not year after year. So you have to lose depth, or hope you can plug in young players and have them work right away.

There seem to be plenty of athletes to play the
game just not as enough “football” players.

I hate to sound like an oldtimer but it seems
like so many of the players today could use
some “seasoning”.I keep hoping the Nfl cans
the stupid Nfl europe and instead starts a small
Spring league here in the US to serve the same
purpose.

The NFL clearly doesn’t want to see many trades, the early deadline fits the pattern. The escalation of signing bonuses when trades are made is a very clear signal that for whatever reason the league discourages making big trades. I agree it takes away from the game.

One criticism about modern pro sports is that players are always switching teams.

By the time fans get to know their team’s players, the players change. Discouraging trades may simply be one way to mitigate the migration.

MC,
Most players in the NFl move through Free agency or
because of salary cap concerns.Very few trades happen
except with disgruntled players.

MadCowboy,

I hear that a lot, but I’ve always been a contrian. If you don’t know who the players are, it’s a sign to me that you’re not serious enough. :)

Uh that was supposed to be “contrarian”

I prefer the parity of the salary-capped NFL, where any game could potentially surprise or shock, depending on the perspective. The coaches can still make a difference, as could gereral managers, who have to get the best value for their spending allowance.

Rafael,

You may be creating an army of fanatics, but we’re still the minority. Most fans just watch on Sunday. It’s hard to believe, but that’s what I’m told . . . by friends, by family, and once by an intervention group.

God bless the Cowboys.

I’m with Lee 100%.

The Pats proved that you can still put together a dynasty, but rather than buying one, you have to build it through shrewd resource management.

And it’s good for the NFL that even a small market team has a chance.

It’s also good for the NFL, and the cowboys, that a 6-10 team can become 12-4 the very next season.

MC,

Unfortunately i think your right.

At least that explains why the espn Sun. nite crew
still have their jobs.

Everyone(except Indy) would like to see Texans upset the Colts Sunday. NFL Primetime would be chaos.

It would seem to me that instead of changing the trade deadline, allowing a team to have more players on their roster would alleviate the problem. I have never understood why the 53-man roster was ever determined to be 53. Why not 55 or 60 even. Perhaps the league should look at this approach instead of squeezing the good teams that are talent laden due to intelligent drafting, FA acquisition, luck of the “walk on”, etc.

I know this is going to get some feedback and it will be welcomed. Who knows, maybe we’ll be intrumental in generating interest toward a workable solution to the injury problem. It just doesn’t seem right to have to release good talent on your team and then scramble to find replacements for key players that get seriously injured. This approach would certainly lessen the impact of the early trade deadline.

Hi Everybody!

Wait, with the Tucker analogy are you saying that the Grinch was on steroids? Don’t tell kids that – it will only confuse them.

(good point and article about the trade deadlines).

OT

Also, like a junkie, Oiler troll still follows the Titans, who represent the example of a talented team not being able to keep their draft picks for more than 3 years so as to still be able to compete. They had a good run, but they are terrible now because they could not afford their secondary or receiver corps. Then came the injuries, and with the early trade deadline, they had no chance…even if Bud Adams wanted to spend the money.

(Oiler Troll mentions the Titans not for the sake of sympathy – he knows he ain’t getting any here, but merely to demonstrate the point).

Perhaps the league could limit the number of trades a team could make. Only allow one (or two or…) trades during the season after the trade deadline.
BTW, I read here often but rarely write, but I do enjoy reading what you guys have to say. Great source for speculation and a source of ideas to explore.

“why the 53-man roster was ever determined to be 53. Why not 55 or 60 even”
Larger rosters would help the richer teams again, and I’d rather not see the whole thing regress into a choice of 3 or 4 teams again.
Remember how boring the Super Bowl was before the Broncos beat the Packers? I was beginning to think that no AFC team could win.
Now, when two teams get to the big game, it’s a toss up again, like Monday Night Football.
I hope the Cowboys get to that toss up game.

DiggerO’Dell,

The obvious reason that the player limit is not higher, is money. Any increase in the player limit would force teams to apportion a greater percentage of their gross profits towards player salaries, thereby decreasing their net profits. Try selling that to owners like Mike Brown, Bill Bidwill and Tom Benson. The league had a difficult enough time persuading teams to increase the limit to 53.

My own pet peeve is the ‘active’ player limit.

I understand the reasoning behind this limit. It prevents teams from being too disadvantaged (over the healthier teams) when they have a string of injuries. If they didn’t have an active/inactive list, teams would be forced to cut or place players on injured reserve, so they could compete against the healthier teams. In effect, it is a form of mini-injured reserve, allowing teams to keep slightly injured players on the roster for a few weeks.

But it also forces teams to sit healthy players when neither team has the full complement of 8 injured players. I believe this is a tremendous waste of player resources.

A year or so ago, Mike Shanahan (I believe) put forward a plan that would allow teams to play those healthy players. Before each game, each team would list the players (up to 8) that would not play because of injury (or whatever). If one team had fewer players on its list than the other team, it would be forced to add players (again, up to 8) to equalize the ‘inactive’ lists. So, if one team went into the game with 5 players on its inactive list, and the other team had 4, each team could dress 48 players for that game, rather than the 45 as mandated today. That would be 6 more players who could play special teams, or be part of a substitution pattern, or be injury substitutions, or give starters a breather, or get some training snaps late in the 4th quarter.

I have no idea why this proposal lacked the support needed to pass. But, as I recall, it didn’t even come close. Perhaps the coaches objected to the uncertainty that close to game time. Perhaps the owners objected to paying the extra travel costs for those extra players. I really don’t know. But, I still think it is a worthwhile idea.

OK, Digger, I’d better be shoveling off now.

Hmmm!. Those ‘smiley faces’ were supposed to be number ‘eights’. Sorry, if that caused any confusion as to what I was trying to say.

I don’t think you can make any case that the NFL modern era was ever dominated by big market teams buying championships. Only the Giants have won any superbowls. They didn’t buy it, they were coached to it. Dallas isn’t a “big market” team, SF maybe is but didn’t “buy” their championships. The salary cap was just all about the owners (collectively) wanted to keep more of the profits.

Lee

I think that your response lacks one key ingredient … the salary cap. If the cap is increased proportionally to the increase in players, then the “rich” have no better advantage than the “poor” teams. Also, the big money for teams is generated by their competitiveness … not their cost. Ergo, the concern for big profits by the owners for travel expenses, etc. is minimal when compared to the ticket sales at each game.

Also, if I recall correctly, there is a “robin hood” clause in the revenues generated by the league which is “shared” with the “poor” teams in order for them to maintain the philosophical salary parity. The endorsement income for teams and players is a significant item as well.

NYG Hater … I agree with you on all points except the bit about the salary cap. The salary cap is to prevent the buying of a talent overloaded team that would be a juggernaut for the teams that could not afford or support such. Now, don’t get me wrong. Sure the owners want to keep more of the profits. After all, they are the $$$ behind every team and as cold as it may seem, profits are the rewards of a sound business. The NFL is BIG BUSINESS! However, there are potentially more $$$s for a team that wins in the playoffs than what they make throughout the regular playing season with all the endorsements, etc. that go along with a winner.

Off the subject, but this was an interesting comment on T Tucker.

Tucker will play reasonably well against the Seahawks. It’s not like Bryce Fisher is one of the great defensive ends in the game, and Tucker actually appears to have some confidence right now. I’ll let you in on a little secret that Parcells would never tell you: Tucker is the most athletic offensive lineman on the team. OK, stop laughing now. It’s true. I saw him go through the “ladders” during training camp, and the guy is quick. If he ever figures out what it is he’s supposed to do on a play, he has the ability to overpower someone. He’s not an upgrade, but he’s not as big of a downgrade as you might think.

Digger,

I agree with your point but my point was that stockpiling of talent based on market size was not a problem in the NFL in the modern era. I assume that is because of the revenue sharing that has been in place for many years. Teams that were dominant in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s mostly were built on the draft. In hindsight, I believe that was because players did not have the freedom of FA. Now that I’ve had coffee and fully thought it through, I guess FA and the cap were put in place at the same time and the cap balances out player movement.

I’ve just always had a problem with the hard cap because it prevents teams from doing it the right way. That is, under the scenario Raf put forward above, the Cowboys will be unable to retain the players they draft and develop. In 2-4 years when Witten, Jones, Ware, Canty, Spears etc hit the market some of them will be gone. There should be a way to at least retain the players you draft and develop.

rha,

Who made that comment? It is consistent with what I’ve heard as well….great athlete…..a box of rocks between his ears. I think he’ll be fine, Flozel wasn’t a menza member either. I think there’s a very good chance he’ll do a better job run blocking.

NYHater

Matt Mosely, Dallas Morning News

BTW, Bill Parcells told the Seattle Press that they needed to watch for a young player of his, Tony Romo. Never heard Bill say anything like that before.

The trade deadline, roster limit, practice squad, salary cap and any other seemingly illogical restraint on a teams ability to aquire players is rooted in financial concerns of the owners. The NFL has always been tightly controlled by ownership from the 60’s til now and rightly so. Quality ownership will not invest in the NFL if there is not a chance to be profitable. Jerry is a great example, would he have purchased the Cowboys without the hope of making money? No way!

Without quality ownership, the product deteriorates and the quality of football is gone as dip shit owners take over (those with plenty of money and want fun, recognition, and/or legacy).

These guys are doing a great job of keeping the teams competitive, fans in the stands and players happy. This is a huge juggling act and all the balls are staying in the air. Prices are rising, but not out of proportion to the costs of players, stadiums etc.

Um, y’all might be forgetting, but Tucker will not be lining up against Bryce Fischer. Silly Matt Mosely, Tucker will be playing opposite GRANT WISTROM!! Oy! Wistrom may be the only guy I’ve ever seen who is physically UNABLE to give up. He can get knocked down three times on a play, and still get to the QB. Tucker will have more than his hands full with Wistrom, but he should be able to do a pretty good job. Wistrom is not the greatest athlete: He’s not that strong, but he’s quick off the line. If Tucker can get a hand on him (oh and by the way, Wistrom is great with his hands, so Tucker has to stay strong-armed against him) early, he can contain him. Tucker is by far the superior athlete: He’s bigger, stronger faster, and could dominate this matchup, but it all comes down to confidence. If Tucker believes he can keep Wistrom at bay, he will. So lets hope BP is peppering him with compliments in practice, and that he’s not reading some of the comments in the news about him!

Go Boys!

The trade deadline is designed to minimize instability and keep payroll stable. Baseball has a severe competitive and payroll control problem. One of those contributing factors is a late trade deadline. Baseball puts a much lower premium on a draft. Teams that go bad dump players (getting worse) and competiting teams add (getting better) creating a greater disparity between the haves and have nots. For all the reasons that we wouldnt to be able to trade up to one day before the Superbowl are the same reasons to a lesser degree as to why an earlier trade deadline is better. If the NFL were to move the deadline further out as suggested, Minnesota and Houston could be auctioning players right and left with no intent to play a competitive season — (maybe they are already there but…) further skewing the season.

Rha —

Is Romo goind to play left tackle this weekend? Free safety?

In all seriousness, I would love to think that Romo is the long term answer, but until I see him take some snaps in a real NFL game, then I’m still hoping we get Rivers.

Madcow,

I agree, potential just means you ain’t done it yet.

Just thought it was interesting he would bring his name up out of the blue. Obviously they (Seattle press) were not asking about TR and BP never, never, never talks up a player unless that player is retired or on another team. Just sounded out of character and I was surprised to hear him say it.

…you know what I love, Im just throwing it out there…all of a sudden, the word Cowboys and the word Super Bowl, are starting to get whispered out of peoples mouths…even espn…beginning of the year, wouldnt even have been in the same sentence, except maybe, “no way the cowboys make the super bowl”, but all of a sudden…lets go cowboys…super bowl or not, Im lovin this season…

Long time reader first time writer……I just wanted to back up what becker stated about creating a spring league. It would be nice if this worked like a farm league in baseball. It would be fun to watch some player mature in grow into professionals. I just think this would add a little something to the league and add more intrigue around certain players.

linus,

I’m sure that is the theory, that the early trade deadline helps stability but the example you use doesn’t support that argument. I bet Houston had a good idea their season was over before last Tues and they didn’t fire sale anybody off. (I heard they offered to pay someone to take their coach but couldn’t find any takers). I think the hard cap prevents that from happening on both ends. Acquiring teams would bump up against the cap and I think there is a minimum cap as well that would prevent dumping salaries.

I agree there needs to be a deadline, the question is why couldn’t it be a little later in the season? I would have no problem as far as competition…it might create better competition later in the year if a bubble team could replace an injured starter. Only teams clearly out of it would trade away good players anyways. Having said all that, I still think the deadline isn’t the biggest issue, it’s the signing bonuses hitting the current year cap that prevents most trades.

NYG Hater

I agreed with you about the teams should be able to draft and keep the talent they found until I went back and looked at what the Jones family did between Jimmy Johnson and BP.

Solid Draft keepers of Jerry Jones

94’ Larry Allen 2nd round
95’ -——-zero
96’ Randal Godfrey
97’ Dexter Coakley 3rd round
98’ Greg Ellis 1st round
      Flozell Adams 2nd round
99’ Dat Nguyen
00’ -——-zero
01’ -——-zero
02’ Roy Williams 1st
      Gurode

7 draft choices a year times 9 years = 8 players

PLEASE BP DON’T LEAVE US TO GM JONES AND FAMILY !!!!!

I don’t think last minute trades would work due to all the different systems. Injuries are just part of the game. As for dealing for Rivers, I’m just not sold on the guy. If he came on the cheap, it would be another story. We should look at getting a guy like Quinn or Jacobs middle of the first round. Then we can finally jettison Henson. We also need to focus on OL and receiver this next draft. A safety wouldn’t hurt either.

rmac,

I hear you (and feel your pain). The flipside of the argument would be what if we could have kept all the FA’s we lost in the mid-late 90’s. Jimmy’s team was taken apart primarily by FA. Even with Barry at the switch we would have won 1-2 more SB’s.

No doubt the fiasco that was the Cowboys draft room from Switzer through Campo would have left us in dire straits but we seem to have gotten significantly better over the past 2-3 drafts and I would hate to see it happen again. I think something VERY special has started here.

Let’s hope the Jones boys have learned something. At least the FA signings this year are a good sign that someone is better at evaluating talent.

NYG Hater

I agree with you on the last 2 or 3 drafts being good. I think BP is making the final say on those drafts and on any players coming and leaving the team (I could be wrong).

I don’t see the Dallas Cowboys entering the Phillip Rivers sweepstakes……not even a chance.

Rivers will end up with the Jets probably……..John Abraham is by far the best DE out there and is still young enough to contribute for several years and right away in a 3-4 that SD runs.

Cowboys also will not enter the Leinhart sweepstakes either and unless I am completely wrong about Bill Parcells intentions do not look for them to bring in another QB at all in the draft or FA. Bill will stick with Bledsoe, Romo and Henson. He signed an extension on Romo and Henson has what a 7 or 8 year contract. I don’t see either of those guys going anywhere anytime soon. Maybe they do or don’t develop into an NFL starter for the Dallas Cowboys……….or Romo could leave for the PGA but I think both will be on the roster next year.

If Bledsoe were injured all bets are off……..but it would be a veteran not a rookie that BP would be going after!

Marcus Vick might well be the best QB in college. Look at his percentages, his TDs to Ints, he is very accurate passer, and he looks to pass first unlike Michael………..uh……..but when he does decide to run it……he can run all day look at last nights game.

The only knock is he is but 6’ tall. But his last name if Vick………as long as we are wishing for a youthful QB I will throw my two cents in that this kid might well be a better NFL prospect than Michael. It is almost as if he hears the criticism of his brother not being a great passer and is out to prove he is. He also gets defensive when called an athelete and says no I am a quarterback.

Downside he has had plenty of off the field problems……..but same sort of thing many of us engaged in in college………….

Jon:
John Abraham is undersized for a DE in the 3-4 (he’s build just like Ware), he could develop into a WSLB, but would take time, and SD already has their WSLB (Foley). I can see him going to Washington for Ramsey.

Jon:
Marcus Vick could be a pretty good QB if he has an OLine above good, in passing plays, with his height, he will need the lanes that an OLine can make and as a DCoord you can game plan against that, so he’d need a pretty good OLine.

And I’m not so sure about the running QB’s, seeing the other Vick play gives me the chills when he has the ball in his hands and is running wild because he exposes his body too much and I wouldn’t want my franchise QB more on the bench than on the field.

Jon,

Its not even April and we are going to disagree about the draft? JK .. I like the kid Stanton from Michigan State. Look at his TD to INT ratio!! 15-0!! I have seen him play and he is a very good passer. Moves within the pocket very well, and is extremely accurate. Reminds me of John Elway. If teams rush out to get Vick and Leinart, then he will be a steal later in the first round. I just hope he is still there when we pick at 32nd!!

Woops my bad that is 15-3 TD to INT ratio.

PASSING GP Effic Att-Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G
———————————————————————————————-
Stanton, Drew 6 184.03 174-125-3 71.8 1806 15 75 301.0

Ok, now since we have evolved to QB ratings, would someone please post the formula that is used to determine it?

Digger,

Here is how they determine it in the NFL:

http://www.nfl.com/news/981202qbrate.html

Here is the NCAA equivalent passer efficiency rating formula:

http://football.stassen.com/pass-eff/

Yards + TDs – Sacks / Ints adjusted for inflation…

It’s all BS statistics.

David CT,

Wistrom is just an above avg DE. As I said earlier, no one goes to Seattle and says
“we have to plan for Wistrom!”
or
“Wistrom will get his big plays we just hope to limit them and not let him beat us!”"

Wistrom is just another Nebraska DLineman who got overrated. Ellis is better than Wistrom. Canty is probably better right now.

Big 12 chickens**t player…

A.T.D.

Well said !!!!!!!!
Remember how many O lineman came out of
Nebraska and went #1 only to be busts????

I agree he’s not that great, but he’s just doesn’t give up. Tucker can’t be satisfied with pancaking him or rerouting him in passprotection, he has to stick with him til the QB releases the ball or the RB gets to the next level. I even said he’s not a great athlete, and he doesn’t get many sacks, but he hussles, and Tucker has to finish when he’s blocking him one-on-one.

Thanks EricR for the link. After reading it, I wonder if the math genius that developed the formula was on acid or “cranked out” because there are factors in the formula that are from the right field parking lot.

Eric

I won’t argue Stanton at Michigan State with you. The guy is big strong and has a cannon of an arm. He also has some mobility for a big guy.

I think he is an NFL QB for sure. Maybe every bit as good or better than Leinhart…….but I think the NFL scouts know that. He and Quinn had quite the shoot out. I thought both were pretty impressive. Reminded you of some of those Elway / Montana or Elway / Marino shootouts. Only Quinn and Stanton delivered a hech of a show.

I would doubt Stanton goes after Marcus Vick………but I could be wrong.

Chandus,

Shawn Merriman is a 280 lb Linebacker. I could see them moving him to DE and having Abraham at LB. Abraham has played DE in a 4 man front or LB in the 3-4………you are correct his is small for the position…………but I don’t see a lot of teams with a protypical 3 man DE looking for a QB named Rivers? Do you? I think Marty might take Abraham and a number one pick from the Jets who will be giving up a much earleier pick than the Redskins.

I am a huge Aikman fan. Don’t get me wrong. But Troy missed plenty of time……….Jason Garret, Steve Beurlein, Berni Kosar……..all came in and played some good games for us back in the day. Troy was injured once against the Giants untouched running out of bounces. He missed considerable time after that. Nobody ever wants a Franchise QB on the bench……….but Marcus unlike Michael is already PASS FIRST run 2nd. Mike is still Run First or mostly.

Quincy Carter showed us what a little bit of mobility and a nice deep ball at QB could do for an offensive line and a team of lesser talent on offense. I say Marcus Vick is ten times the passer, has better touch, better long ball, and can actually run and make plays much more so than Quincy. You cringe every time Mike Vick takes off? What about the rookie year for Troy Aikman when teams were teeing off on him, or Vinny or Drew Bledsoe? The statue at QB is just as prone to injury ask Joe Thiesman or Joe Montana and they were a little mobile…………what about Rodger Dodger……..known for scrambling and rushing for a few yards himself? Dan Marino was the most immobile QB I have ever seen…..but he released the ball so fast and had a sense about the blitz and he played a hech of a long time and with never much of run game or defense to mention……a few years maybe but not much. He won a lot of games……..and he has the yards and TDs……..but saying a mobile guy is more prone to injury well I ain’t sure that is the case……..here are some mobile QBs that beg to differ.

The Ironman of Football Brett Favre………known to Scramble and pass on the run

John Elway

Roger the Dodger Staubach……did in the air and on the ground……and had already done it on the water with the US NAVY.

Steve Young………watch his ealry years……..or in Tampa Bay? HOF Steve Young by the way……..and a lefty like Vick.

Randall Cunningham

Statues in the backfield………..that I can think of.

Dan Marino

Dan Fouts

Troy Aikman

Drew Bledsoe

Kurt Warner

Rich Gannon

Jim Kelly for the most part……although Kelly played linebacker and was recruited as one……he did occassionally scramble and was a big QB when he came up but not compared to Daunte or McNabb.

There were some guys on the bubble like Joe Montana and Joe Theisman that could do it when they had too but I sure remember Montana as the great Passer not runner. Michael Vick has just taken the scramble and the QB run to another level. Probably most similar to Randall Cunningham reallly and both have Cannons of an arm. Randall eventually settled down with age and threw a lot…….but I remember the Young one…….and he beat us a lot!

None of the college QBs are going to be starting in Dallas anytime soon as long as Drew Bledsoe is upright and healthy, cuz Bill has trust in that guy. Marcus might already be a thug or hoodlum in Bills assesment but he tends to give youngs guys another chance……so hard to say. Let Michael Vick decide he wants to throw for 400 a game………give him a WR with talent like McNabb or Culpepper or even Leftwich has. Watch him light it up! He is the most talented athelete on the field, and at any level you want the ball in that guys hands as often as possible. Emmit Smith played QB in his youth too. Why risk a handoff. Just let the best guy have the ball from under center and go with that!!!