How Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez could keep Brian Hoyer from being the top available NFL quarterback in 2015.
The agent for Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer likely wants to land his client a new contract with the club as soon as possible. Hoyer, a hometown hero who grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, is playing well this fall, and the Browns are at 6-3 and in first place in the AFC North standings. The 29-year old Hoyer is set to be a free agent following the 2014 campaign, and the theory among some in the Cleveland media is that the team needs to pay the man who has been the club’s best quarterback since the days of Derek Anderson slinging the rock in 2007.
Fans of the Browns are delighted with how Hoyer has played and the fact that they don’t have to be talking NFL Draft before Thanksgiving Day rolls around. Hoyer is a polarizing figure among analysts and NFL insiders, however, a magnet for backhanded compliments from those who are not sold on Hoyer being a true franchise quarterback.
Hoyer is a “game manager.” He has below-average arm strength. Hoyer is, on his best days, the third-best quarterback in the division. He is fortunate to feature on an offense that has a three-headed monster at the running back position and an offensive line that is playing well despite losing All-Pro center Alex Mack to a broken leg. He does well to hit open wide receivers, but he doesn’t throw targets open.
Any and all criticisms about his skill set aside, Hoyer was, so long as he remained healthy and the Browns kept on winning, on the verge of being the top available quarterback this coming winter. Even if the Browns were to, at some point between now and March, choose to give the keys to the offense to rookie phenom Johnny Manziel, Hoyer knew in the back of his mind that he was going to get paid by some team.
That may no longer be the case.
Some, myself included, were crazy enough back in August to suggest that former New York Jets starter Mark Sanchez and not Nick Foles was the best quarterback on the roster of the Philadelphia Eagles. All “butt fumble” jokes aside, Sanchez helped the Jets make treks to two AFC Championship Games, and his New York tenure ended as it did because the Jets hung Sanchez out to dry several times, including during a preseason game that ultimately cost the quarterback the 2013 season because of a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder that never should have occurred in the first place.
Sanchez played well for Philadelphia in the preseason, and he is getting a chance to resurrect his career after Foles suffered a fracture clavicle. Sanchez lit it up against the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football, completing 20 of 37 attempts for 332 yards and a pair of touchdowns. There were, even before Foles went down, rumors that Philadelphia head coach Chip Kelly was keen on Sanchez, and Kelly has not been shy about parting ways with players once he is done with them.
Looking at you, DeSean Jackson.
Imagine, if you will, a scenario in which the high-powered offense of the Eagles doesn’t miss a beat with Sanchez on the field, that Foles is relegated to backup quarterback when he is healthy, and that Philadelphia goes on to win the NFC East. Kelly would, if the rumors are true, likely desire to keep Sanchez as his starting quarterback moving forward. Sanchez will be a free agent after this season, while Foles is signed through the end of the 2015 campaign.
Just like that, Hoyer would find himself being overlooked by NFL teams once again.
Foles will be carrying a salary cap hit of under $820,000, which is nothing for NFL teams, next fall. He turns 26-years old in January, meaning that he has not yet hit his physical prime. While is numbers are down from a season ago, one shouldn’t soon forget how well Foles played in 2013.
There isn’t a team in the NFL needing a new quarterback who wouldn’t grab Foles with a second-round draft pick rather than sign Hoyer for millions upon millions of dollars. Not a one.
Take a look around the league at the rosters belonging to the worst teams in the NFL. Which ones, realistically, will be making Hoyer crazy offers during the offseason?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers swung and missed on Josh McCown last offseason. They’ll be drafting a quarterback this time around. Word around the NFL is that the St. Louis Rams want to bring Sam Bradford, who suffered a second torn ACL in less than a year, back for 2015. Bradford’s cap hit for next season makes St. Louis signing Hoyer unrealistic.
Rookie quarterbacks Derek Carr, Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater take the Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings out of the running. The Tennessee Titans have no reason to give up on rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger just yet. Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder remains a huge fan of Robert Griffin III. The Buffalo Bills have their own Brian Hoyer in Kyle Orton. Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien got his man when he acquired Ryan Mallett (the two worked together during their time with the New England Patriots).
Then, there are the New York Jets. Radio host Mike Francesa said it best years ago when he commented that the Jets care more about the “sizzle” and about making headlines than about the football. Hoyer isn’t a big enough name for a franchise that continues to be little brother behind the New York Giants.
There have, since the Browns beat the Cincinnati Bengals last Thursday night, been some crazy stories floated out there about a future Hoyer contract. “There isn’t a team in the league that would give Hoyer half of what some have speculated,” one insider told me earlier in the week. “We need to see more (from Hoyer).”
There is still a long ways to go before this process plays out. Hoyer could find his form and play his best football of the year over the next two months. He could slip in the shower and suffer an injury that kicks off the Johnny Football era in Cleveland.
What is known is that the Browns continue to hold all of the power in negotiations with Hoyer. Neither Hoyer nor Manziel are going anywhere anytime soon, and the Browns could extend a fair offer to keep Hoyer in Cleveland for another year while still grooming Manziel to be the team’s future quarterback.
Cleveland fans who aren’t on “#TeamHoyer” or “#TeamManziel” should happily cheer on Sanchez and the Eagles over the next several weeks. The Sanchize playing well could lead to the Browns keeping Hoyer and Manziel for a cheaper price.
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