An interesting piece. My own thinking is becoming more in line with the idea that nothing guarantees long term futility like constant QB changes as you search for the next Drew Brees, Tom Brady, or Peyton Manning. Its simply stupid, because you never quite know who will actually turn out to be the next Drew Brees, Tom Brady, or Peyton Manning. You can end up as the NFL equivalent of the old maid that never married because nobody ever met her standards. Or, put another way, win with who ya got.
P.S. I've seen enough of Kyle Orton now to recognize the opposite problem. The Chiefs will learn too, in their own good timeCassel, Kolb misfires show the value of Bridge Quarterbacks
Through the last decade, the dominant narrative in the NFL has been that if you want to build a dynasty and win Super Bowls, you must have a franchise quarterback. Teams who use league-average bridge players at that position tend to underwhelm in the end, which is why some teams have gambled and lost on quarterbacks just high enough in the food chain to tantalize, and just low enough on the reality scale to disappoint when the time comes to validate that elite-level contract.
Two teams are paying the price for those errant decisions, both literally and figuratively. The Kansas City Chiefs rewarded former New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel with a six-year, $63 million contract in July of 2009 after Cassel helped the Pats go 11-5 without Tom Brady, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on the first quarter of the first game. In his nearly three seasons with the Chiefs, Cassel has never posted a DYAR efficiency ranking higher than 14th in the league through a season, and the hand injury that put him on injured reserve this season has made him all to replaceable in some eyes.
When the Chiefs upset the formerly undefeated Green Bay Packers last Sunday, interim head coach Romeo Crennel said that if backup Kyle Orton continued to play as he did, he should get a chance to be the team's starting quarterback in 2012. Given the fact that Orton's better play would increase Crennel's chances of turning his own "interim" tag to "permanent," it isn't hard to see the writing on the wall. Cassel got a $4.75 million base salary and a $7.5 million option bonus in 2011; Orton will be a free agent on the comeback trail next year...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shu...p14402&print=1