He is not a free agent and the Packers would also want compensation. Lamar would be great if you want to pay him over 50 million a year! How about Jimmy Garoppolo? A more realistic possibility?
you can’t be an excellent gm and pick one of the worst QBs of all time at number 2 overall he’s done very well rebuilding the rest of the team tho
Ozzie Newsome's first attempt at landing a QB went horribly wrong. He took Kyle Boller at #19. 3 or 4 years he got it right with Flacco at #15. QB is almost impossible to predict. Other positions are much easier to shoot and predict. I'm not saying Douglas is in the same class as Newsome, just that it happens to even the best of GMs
The most realistic outcome will probably be Derek Carr. Also, keep an eye on Kyler Murray. He wanted out of Arizona last season before he signed the big deal. He doesn’t seem to get along with the coaching staff and comes off as a Diva. Arizona could be picking high and could go QB in the 2023 draft. It’s a situation I would monitor.
I hear you but we’re talking about #2 overall … there’s a huge difference between that and #19. Especially regarding QBs.
I get it. You're 100% right and there's a big difference in draft positions. I'm just pointing out that Ozzie is universally regarded as one of the best GMs to ever do it and he missed on his initial 1st round attempt at QB. Annnnnd he traded up for Boller. Ravens traded #41 and 2004 1st round pick for #19. Interesting enough the Ravens own first round pick was Suggs at #10 whereas the Jets traded up for the bowling ball with knives at #4.
Douglas won't get another shot at drafting a QB high because we won't have a high draft pick next year, and the sensible thing to do will be to bring in a veteran like Garoppolo or Minshew. He deserves a shot to do that; if it works, we have our QB for the next few to several years, and if it doesn't, and we're drafting high in 2024, he should get fired.
There are some outliers: for example, Bears were able to get Fields while in play-offs armed with 20th pick. It did cost them an extra first rounder. 49ers were able to get #3 overall, when they had a season worse than usual due to injuries - #12 overall. It did cost then 2 extra first round picks. JD might be able to pull off something like this and pick a great QB this time. But chances of that are not that high. For all the success he had drafting, missing on a FQB with #2 overall when there was one available, is not an easy thing to overcome. If you look at Eagles, the team where he is coming from, they had an amazing season, which bought them time, and then they hit on Hurts with a second round pick. The point is that JD will get some time if the team does well short term, but sooner or later he will need to find a FQB in order to be around.
I know, but those cases were different: the Bears weren't trying to win right away, and while the 49ers and Eagles were, they already had Garoppolo and Wentz who could start if need be. We don't have a real starter, yet we're trying to contend. So Douglas can take a QB again at some point if he likes, but next year's starter will be a veteran, and if the team falls apart next year (which would indicate this year was a fluke), that should be it for him.
That happens to every excellent GM on time or another. Is the total body of work not just a pick or two.
I think Garoppolo is the first call Douglas makes. He's familiar with the system he knows Saleh. Carr and Minshew are next. Douglas is a wheeler-dealer. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to land a big splash signing like Rodgers or Brady. Rodgers of course is Zach's football idol, not a bad mentorship program to get our young gunslinger back on track.
I wouldn't mind not taking a QB in round 1 until 2025. Sustained contention requires a FQB, but that QB needs a solid team around him too. A friend who follows college football more closely than I do says Cade Klubnik, Drew Allar, and Connor Weigman will be the next wave of elite prospects to come out. And all of them are freshmen now. We might have to do what the Chiefs did from 2013 to 2017 and go with a bridge and pounce when someone the FO and CS likes is available even if it means trading up.
Brady or Rodgers are not coming here... And as far as we know... Douglas has no intention to pick up another quarterback... veteran or not. This season has pivoted from "all about Zach" to "fuck that guy" as soon as we starting putting a few wins together. Who knows... if Mike White can win games they may roll with him into next year.
