By Ed Baylor: Former starting quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Kevin Kolb, now both free agents, have yet to be signed by any of the 32 teams in the NFL and it’s not looking good for either right now. The 2014 draft is deep in quarterbacks with at least 12 very good ones and an extra 3-4 quarterbacks that have the talent to be starters one day with the right development.
With that many low cost rookie quarterbacks available, it’s highly doubtful that any of the teams will opt to sign McCoy or Kolb. As such, both players’ careers might be over in the NFL.
McCoy spent 2013 as the No.2 backup quarterback behind Colin Kaepernick with the San Francisco 49ers. However, McCoy played poorly during the preseason, showing poor arm strength and little confidence. The only thing that McCoy did well was run the football, but even at that he was still nothing special. The 49ers have given up a 5th and 7th round draft pick to get McCoy in a trade with the Cleveland Browns last year, so they stuck it out with him despite the fact that they might have been better off going with rookie quarterback B.J. Daniels, who outplayed McCoy during the preseason games.
In a confusing move the Niners cut Daniels and kept McCoy as the team’s backup. Luckily for the 49ers, Kaepernick didn’t get injured in 2013 so McCoy was never needed. As bad as Kaepernick played in 2013, having McCoy as the starter would have been about the same as having Kaepernick in there. They were both awful.
The 49ers chose not to re-new McCoy’s 1-year contract, so he’s free to be signed by one of the other teams in the league. Thus far, no one has shown interest in signing him, and it’s not looking like anyone will. For their part, the 49ers traded a 6th round draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars to get quarterback Blaine Gabbert to take over the position as the team’s No.2 backup quarterback.
McCoy was a superb quarterback when he was in college at Texas, as he completed 76 percent of his passes in his senior season and 70 percent in his junior year. But after being drafted in the 3rd round by the Cleveland Browns in 2010, he failed to show the same kind of accuracy or talent as their starter.
Kevin Kolb signed a 2-year, $13 million contract with the Buffalo Bills last March. However, he had a disastrous time there, as he first suffered a leg injury when he slipped on a wet mat while walking out onto the practice field. Later during the preseason, Kolb suffered a concussion during a Bills game against the Washington Redskins last August. The Bills ended up cutting Kolb on March 11th last month.
There’s a possibility that one of the teams may choose Kolb, but you’d have to think that it’s not likely to happen due to his history of injuries. Kolb has played well when he’s been healthy, but the problem is he’s had nagging injuries in a number of the seasons in his time with the Arizona Cardinals and Bills, and that right there might be enough to scare off teams that would otherwise be interested in signing him.