How Do NFL Teams Handle Oft-Injured Starting Quarterbacks?
Since 2010 Eagles Quarterback Sam Bradford and Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo have had trouble staying healthy and on the field. During that time Bradford and Romo have both only played a full 16 game season twice, putting their teams into the vicarious position of having to ensure they have players in place to be ready to play if and when their starting Quarterback goes down with an injury.
Sports Agent Leigh Steinberg has represented over 60 first round draft picks and seven players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame while also advising Tom Cruise on set during the filming of "Jerry Maguire" 20 years ago. He joined Josh Hennig on Monday to discuss the predicament for NFL teams who employ Quarterbacks like Bradford and Romo with injury histories:
"Well you can argue that the injury history comes not from the fact they were Hang Gliding or going to Club Mediterranean, they're doing exactly what the club asked them to so they are still going to get paid. The problem comes that if you're paying Quarterback Number One a big cap number than Quarterback Number Two is usually not just a little bit worse, it's a big drop off. So I think teams make a mistake when they either keep two Quarterbacks or don't invest enough in the second Quarterback because it's almost inevitable that the first Quarterback's going to get hurt at least for a few games if not the whole thing. And now that it's become a Quarterback-centric game in the NFL, you gotta invest more money at that position to make sure that this, which is almost predictable, is something that you can overcome."
Checkout what Steinberg had to say about his client Quarterback Paxton Lynch's great opportunity being drafted by the Denver Broncos, the end of the Holdout of Joey Bosa with the Chargers, and his perspective on the Colin Kaepernick saga