Tom Brady on top: Ranking the starting NFC South quarterbacks heading into free agency
The Buccaneers signed Tom Brady to an extension a couple days ago, locking him in through the 2022 season and saving $19.3 million in salary cap room this year. Brady may not be the same QB he was at his peak a decade ago, but he was good enough to lead an insanely-talented Tampa team to a Super Bowl win at 43 years old.
Combined with a decline by Drew Brees, it’s hard to argue that there’s a better QB in the division. Let’s review where each team stands at the game’s most important position heading into free agency by ranking their starters.
Tom Brady - Buccaneers starter - for at least 2 more years
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2020 stats: 11-5 record, 401/610 (65.7%), 4,633 yards, 40 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 11.6 yards per completion, 102.2 passer rating, won SB 2021 cap number: $28,375,000 (No. 6 in NFL) Brady has shown some signs of the inevitable physical decline the last few seasons. Still, he's doing a far better job of staving it off than Brees has. Going from one of the league's worst offensive skill groups in New England to one of its best in Tampa didn't hurt. The Bucs offense was so loaded that bringing in star wide receiver Antonio Brown was almost an afterthought. That said, Brady put his weapons to excellent use. He adjusted his game and embraced Byron Leftwich and Bruce Arians' aggressive downfield concepts, proving he can throw a solid long ball while avoiding turnovers. Brady placed in the middle of the pack (No. 16) in the deep ball project and we have him ranked at No. 7 overall at the position. Eventually Brady will look like Brees and Ben Roethlisberger did this past season, or Peyton Manning in 2015. Based on what we just saw, that may not come for a few more years, though. Until somebody drafts, signs or trades for someone better, Brady will likely remain QB1 in this division.
Matt Ryan - Falcons starter - for how long?
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2020 stats: 4-12 record, 407/626 (65.0%), 4,581 yards, 26 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 11.3 yards per completion, 93.3 passer rating 2021 cap number: $40,912,500 (Highest in NFL) Aging veterans on the decline seems to be a theme around these parts. While he's not quite at Philip Rivers' level just yet, there's an obvious trend downward for Matt Ryan, as well. In Ryan's defense, it's hard to tell how much of it is his fault and how much is the ineffective playcalling of former offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter. Help is on the way in that department, at least. Ryan Tannehill became a borderline-elite QB after trading in Adam Gase for Arthur Smith, who is now Ryan's head coach. With the right playcalling, Ryan has been a special QB in the past - he won MVP in 2016 when Kyle Shanahan was his OC. That said, even if Atlanta expects Ryan to bounce back from a mediocre couple of seasons, he'll turn 36 years old soon and his contract is becoming problematic. Team owner Arthur Blank says they aren't releasing Ryan, but it makes a lot of sense for the Falcons to draft a new potential franchise QB with the No. 4 overall pick. That will most likely either be Justin Fields from Ohio State or Trey Lance of North Dakota State.
Drew Brees - Saints starter - probably retiring
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2020 stats: 9-3 record, 275/390 (70.5%), 2,942 yards, 24 touchdowns, six interceptions, 10.7 yards per completion, 106.4 passer rating 2021 cap number: $12,225,000 (No. 17 in NFL) His trophy case can't compare with Brady's, but Brees has had a tremendous two-decade run at the highest level in the sport. That said, it became clear this year that Brees' time is coming to an end. All reports seem to indicate that he's going to announce his retirement soon. The contract restructure that Brees recently agreed to is the best evidence of that. However, we will believe it when we see it. Brees hasn't been a great athlete for a long time and has still managed to run Sean Payton's offense effectively. He might still be their best option to do so too - that is if the Saints can't find a way to re-sign backup QB Jameis Winston. Especially if the New Orleans offense is going to continue mostly consisting of dumping the ball off to Alvin Kamara in space or throwing slants to Michael Thomas, there's nobody who can do that better than Brees.
Teddy Bridgewater - Panthers starter - for now
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2020 stats: 4-11 record, 340/492 (69.1%), 3,733 yards, 15 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 11.0 yards per completion, 92.1 passer rating 2021 cap number: $22,953,125 (No. 11 in NFL) Bridgewater showed flashes of a solid starting quarterback early in the season and hit his peak in the middle of it. He made smart, quick decisions with the ball against the Saints Week 7 and the Chiefs in Week 9, both close losses that could have gone either way. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there for Bridgewater. Whether it was an injury suffered the next week against Tampa or just a loss of confidence, Teddy never regained his rhythm and by the end of the year he couldn't even perform as a game manager. While Panthers coach Matt Rhule and general manager Scott Fitterer called Bridgewater "our QB" earlier this week, that's pretty much meaningless knowing that they tried to trade him to the Lions and have been involved in almost every other veteran quarterback deal. Even if he's still on the roster in 2021 because they can't offload his contract, the writing is on the wall. It's clear this team is ready to start over with a new QB1, whether by trade or in the NFL draft. [vertical-gallery id=634601]
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