3 quarterback options to compete against Cowboys backups

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick leads the unlikely club but he is still available. As a 21 year retired servicemember, I didn’t initially agree with what he was doing and I would never kneel for the flag but I am glad that I served a country that allows everyone to be and say who they want to be.

Trade options have to be looked at as there are several signal callers that could be dealt for the right price. Marcus Mariotta was the subject or trade chatter at the beginning of the new league year but his salary makes this move unlikely.

The AFC East specifically the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills both have four quarterbacks on the roster that could be backup candidates for the Dallas Cowboys. Houston has five quarterbacks but the status of Deshaun Watson clouds this QB room.

If the Denver Broncos do indeed land quarterback Aaron Rodgers like some rumors are suggesting, I would make a serious move and try and pry Drew Lock away from them if he isn’t included in the Rodgers deal.

I would also keep an eye on Chicago. If Justin Fields takes control early even though Andy Dalton was told he was the starter, an early unseating could make Dalton available down the line. Dalton knows this system and players so this would be an easy dot to connect if he gets demoted.

I cannot see an obvious post-June 1st casualty coming from another team so that option is unlikely also. The only one that I think could even remotely potentially become a cut is Chicago quarterback Nick Foles.

Chicago trading Foles after June first would lighten the salary cap hit but he still has a base salary of $4 million this year and next year as well as around $10 million in roster bonuses which makes this even more unlikely.

I will say that the Dallas Cowboys could pay Foles his $6.6 million salary this year and release Foles before the new league year next season. A post-June first cut would create just under $12 million of dead money for the Bears.

I think the Dallas Cowboys believed the quarterback market wouldn’t dry up the way it did and they probably played the odds of a veteran quarterback being available after a crazy NFL quarterback carousel.

Unfortunately, it did not play out the way I think they envisioned, and are left sifting through a bare market. Training camp is going to be a battle and the backup quarterback is going to be something I keep my eye on especially if it’s just GG, Red, and the Nooch.