Some QB situations around the league

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Aug. 24, 2005) -- Cuts are coming Aug. 30, but speculation is mounting now. Especially about quarterbacks.

One of the most intriguing is in New England, where the Patriots are going to have a real interesting decision to be make at quarterback. Tom Brady gets one roster spot (is that going out on a limb or what?) and it would be extremely difficult for New England to cut local legend Doug Flutie, giving him another spot. It also would seem that seventh-round draft pick Matt Cassell, who has been mighty impressive this summer, would get the third. That leaves Brady's backup from last season, former fourth-round pick Rohan Davey, as the odd man out. Davey struggled in New England's preseason game against Cincinnati, but he still is a big talent.

Should New England cut Davey, nobody would be surprised to see Davey's former college coach at LSU, Nick Saban, put in a waiver claim for him, being that Miami would have the second waiver claim. Thus, to avoid having Davey land in Miami and to get something back for him, New England is expected to look into dealing Davey in the next week.

Chicago might be interested, as might Denver, which loved Davey coming out of college.

A BEAR MARKET

Last week, the Bears were doing some initial investigative work into trading for San Francisco quarterback Tim Rattay or Pittsburgh quarterback Tommy Maddox. But any trade talks stalled, and now Chicago is feeling an increased confidence in rookie fourth-round pick Kyle Orton.

Should Bears quarterback Chad Hutchinson falter Friday night against the Buffalo Bills, Orton could continue surging closer to Chicago's starting quarterback job. It already seems as if the city of Chicago is pulling for him. As well as Orton has played this summer, he still has not done it against a first-team defense. But he easily has been the Bears' most impressive quarterback this summer.

Even if Hutchinson struggles Friday night the way he did last week against the Indianapolis Colts, his roster spot seems secure. The Bears seem ready to carry Hutchinson, Orton and veteran Jeff Blake into the season. But they are trolling the waters, ready to make a move at quarterback at any time.

A 1, A 2, AND THAT'S IT!

Most teams are deciding which three quarterbacks they'd like to keep. But for most of last season, Pittsburgh carried only two quarterbacks on its 53-man roster. With Maddox taking all the training camp snaps as the Steelers No. 2 quarterback, this does not bode well for veteran Charlie Batch or Brian St. Pierre, who still is practice squad eligible.

Rohan Davey, Tom Brady's backup last season, could be the odd man out in New England.

One of the reasons the Steelers are thought to have played Batch so much during their 17-3 win over the Dolphins on Saturday night is to see whether they could trust him as their backup. Batch, who is coming off microfracture surgery to his knee that sidelined him all of last season, finished 6-of-11 for 55 yards, with no touchdowns, no interceptions, and no firm conclusions.

But the Steelers are going to be getting rid of either Maddox or Batch, and maybe St. Pierre, too, so other teams seeking quarterbacks are paying close attention to Pittsburgh's quarterbacking situation. Asked this week if he planned to keep only two quarterbacks again, Steelers coach Bill Cowher said: "You have to entertain all those things. Right now, there's a lot of different combinations that come up, and I don't know if I'm leaning one way or the other.

Maybe the circumstances and what takes place the next two weeks will have an affect."

RAH-RAH FOR RATTAY

There's a few reasons the 49ers showed little interest in dealing Rattay to the Bears. They sensed he would wind up being their starter, a quarterback who can make quick reads and quick adjustments behind a leaky offensive line. This now becomes a crucial season for Rattay. He has a clause in his contract that says if he plays a minimum of 50 percent of San Francisco's plays this year, he will become an unrestricted free agent after this season. So he is playing for time and money.

But the 49ers also have other key decisions to make at quarterback. Their past two seventh-round picks, Ken Dorsey in 2003 and Cody Pickett last season, are locked in a battle for one spot. With the rest of the 49ers roster lacking depth, San Francisco could decide to carry both. But any plans of trying to sneak Pickett through waivers to get him on to their practice squad were dashed last weekend, when he played so well. He's got more athleticism and upside than Dorsey. But Dorsey has got the experience.

McPHERSON MARCHING IN

Despite the fact that he did not play last weekend, and despite speculation to the contrary, the Saints are not going to be releasing fifth-round pick Adrian McPherson, whom the franchise thinks could be their quarterback of the future. He has a roster spot locked up. McPherson has looked lost this summer, even lining up behind guard on one snap. But his talents are too incredible to ignore. He's got a rocket arm, and has worked very hard, showing up at the Saints training facility most every day before training camp to study film.

The Saints quarterback in trouble is Kliff Kingsbury, who spent parts of the past two seasons with the New England Patriots. Kingsbury is practice-squad eligible, and the Saints would like to bring him back there. He's talented -- just not as talented as McPherson or No. 2 quarterback, Todd Bouman.

THE NEW ORLEANS CONNECTION

A quarterback generating a lot of interest is former Saint and current Packers backup, J.T. O'Sullivan. Teams are very well aware of what quarterbacks Marc Bulger and Jake Delhomme went on to do once they left New Orleans' system. They feel the same could be true of O'Sullivan, who is now battling Craig Nall for the No. 3 quarterback job in Green Bay.

As of now, Nall has a slight edge because of his familiarity with the Green Bay offense. But the two quarterbacks are going to get plenty of opportunities to prove their worth during the Packers final two preseason games -- Aug. 26 against New England and Sept. 1 at Tennessee. Should O'Sullivan get released, New Orleans and Chicago could be two of the first teams that come calling. And whether it's in Green Bay or somewhere else, O'Sullivan will have a job in the NFL this season.

And one other note about Green Bay's QB situation: No matter how well Nall or O'Sullivan perform, and no matter how much he struggles, first-round pick Aaron Rodgers still is going to be the Packers No. 2 quarterback heading into the season.

THE MEN OF MIAMI

No team in football has more questions at quarterback than the Dolphins. For now, Gus Frerotte has won the starting job. A.J. Feeley is fighting for the No. 2 spot, but he also might be fighting for a roster spot. Sage Rosenfels seems assured of the No. 3 spot, but undrafted free agent Brock Berlin has a 95.5 quarterback rating this summer, the highest of any quarterback on the Dolphins roster.

The Dolphins have an interest in Tim Couch. They could put in a claim for Davey. They could bring back Berlin, the former University of Miami standout, to their practice squad.

But that is the time of the year we are in, lots of clouds. Especially at quarterback.

[LionelRichie]

the jets should look to pick up one of the cast-offs and put an end to the bollywood era.