Leftwich To Sit Out 2007?

[LoveBoatCaptain]

With Kyle Boller signing an extension, Leftwich appeared to be destined for free agency 2008. However, the injury to Eli Manning appeared to open the door for Leftwich in New York. However, according to the New York Sun, Leftwich's apparent desire, nay demand, that he be a team's quarterback of the future, it appears, once more, that Byron Leftwich will sit out the 2007 season and test free agency in 2008. Sources say Leftwich's desire for a long-term contract makes him a near impossible signing for any team before the season is out.

This doesn't make any sense to me. Why doesn't Leftwich take a one-year starting gig, stay in shape, and prove his worth a la Jeff Garcia this season?

[daullaz]

If he signs somewhere as a backup, then in the offseason teams will try to pay him "backup" money to come in and "compete" for a starting job with a Jeff Garcia/Tarvaris Jackson/Joey Harrington/Brodie Croyle/etc.

If he signs somewhere as a starter on a one-year deal, he runs the risk of injury and losing a multi-year deal in the off-season, and with Leftwich that's definitely something you have to take into account.

If he sits out the season, he'll still be seen as a starting QB in the offseason, maybe the best on the market. If Schaub was able to get the Houston deal with relatively no experience, Leftwich should be able to get a good multi-year deal from a Tampa/Atlanta/KC/Baltimore in 2008.

[knapplc]

If he signs somewhere as a backup, then in the offseason teams will try to pay him "backup" money to come in and "compete" for a starting job with a Jeff Garcia/Tarvaris Jackson/Joey Harrington/Brodie Croyle/etc.

If he signs somewhere as a starter on a one-year deal, he runs the risk of injury and losing a multi-year deal in the off-season, and with Leftwich that's definitely something you have to take into account.

If he sits out the season, he'll still be seen as a starting QB in the offseason, maybe the best on the market. If Schaub was able to get the Houston deal with relatively no experience, Leftwich should be able to get a good multi-year deal from a Tampa/Atlanta/KC/Baltimore in 2008.

Schaub hadn't proven to anyone that he couldn't get the job done. The jury is still out on him. He basically got that job on potential.

Lefty has a troubling history of injuries and inconsistent play. I think he has a great arm and lots of game left, but he's got work to do in his down time before any team is really going to go ga-ga over him.

Of course it really depends on what the QB market looks like when he goes to sign a deal. Also, the way QBs go down in this league he should really stay in game shape - he could be getting a phone call any week to fill in for the rest of the season.

[daullaz]

Like I said, I don't think he's interested in signing a one-year deal to emergency start. It has too much of a chance to damage his off-season possibilities.

[Munboy]

Like I said, I don't think he's interested in signing a one-year deal to emergency start. It has too much of a chance to damage his off-season possibilities.

I think the fact that he's made of glass already damaged his off-season possibilities....on top of the fact that he's really not all that good and about as mobile as a lamp post. There's no team that will sign him as the QB of the future. He better sign somewhere as the QB of right now and make the money while he can.

[jfg]

How about the fact that he lost his job to David Garrard? Leftwich needs to play this year and prove he can still QB in the NFL. If he doesn't play this year I don't see any chance of him getting a starting gig next year. In my opinion, he has two options. Take a backup gig with a team with a bad/injury prone QB, or wait for a team to become desperate. Both options leave him with limited knowledge of the teams playbook from the get-go, but at least the first option allows him to learn the system even though there is not guarantee he'll play. I think he's kind of screwed and this year is probably a wash for him, but I think he needs to latch on to a team.