2021 Free Agent Quarterbacks

ORCHARD PARK, NY – OCTOBER 20: Ryan Fitzpatrick #14 of the Miami Dolphins signals to teammates from under center during the first quarter against the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field on October 20, 2019 in Orchard Park, New York. Buffalo defeats Miami 31-21. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) 2021 Free Agent Quarterbacks

Hello Heat Seekers, welcome to episode 126 of Sully’s 2 Cents Fantasy Football Podcast.  I am you host; I am Rob Sullivan.  The Sully’s 2 Cents Fantasy Football Podcast is a proud member of the RotoHeat family of podcasts.

In Episode 126, I am going to kick off a four-part series that takes an early look at the free agent class of 2021. Today we will focus on the QB position.  As usual I will be looking  at it from a fantasy perspective and give you my two cents on where I think the available QBs are best situated.

To start off let’s have a look at this year’s class of Free Agents.  There are some interesting names here but make no mistake this is not the star-studded class of 2020 which in fairness was unlike any other QB Free Agent class in recent memory. There are seven Free agent QBs of significance this offseason.

2021 Free Agent Quarterbacks 96

In addition to those 7 Free Agent QB’s we have 6 NFL teams without a viable QB option under contract as of now in 2021.

Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, New England, and Washington.  There are another 11 teams that have some uncertainty at the position. 

Carolina, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York Giants and Jets, the Eagles, San Francisco, and all of a suddenly the Green Bay Packers. 

Carolina – Teddy Bridgewater wasn’t great in 2020 but he’s almost certain to be the starting QB in Carolina in 2021.  Teddy carries a pre-June 1st dead cap hit of $20MM, and the Panthers are not likely to contend in 2021.  Carolina should roll with Teddy and draft a QB this spring. Bridgewater is a nice option in a SF league and the ideal 3rd QB for your roster.

Denver– Drew Lock has played in 18 career games in his first two seasons.  I know that Bronco fans are not loving what they have seen so far, but its far too soon to give up now.  Courtland Sutton retuning gives Lock a legit No.1 targets and combine that with Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, Noah Fant and hopefully a full offseason program for Lock with Pat Shurmur.  Lock has the capabilities to play at this level and I remain higher on him that I likely should.  He will be in my top 24 likely closer to 20 than 24 when I do my initial dynasty rankings this spring.

Detroit – Stafford and the Lions have come to an agreement; they are parting ways.  Stafford requested a trade, and the new Mgmt. team has apparently agreed to find him one.  The Lions have three FAs of relevance and they are Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and Adrian Pederson.  Jones and Pederson should be left to find work elsewhere and Golladay is a player you would think they would consider bringing back and tagging if necessary.  If Stafford does indeed move on, the Lions will need to bring in a QB and the draft is the likely the place to find one. 

As of today, the Lions have slightly over 11.6MM in cap space.  Stafford is under contract until the end of the 2022 season.  He carries a dead cap pre-June 1 of 19MM, his cap hit is 33MM, so moving on leaves some scares but also frees up 14MM.  So, it is possible the Lions sign a QB, just don’t expect it to be one of significance.

HOUSTON, TEXAS – JANUARY 04: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Houston Texans runs the ball for a touchdown against the ...