+ JaMarcus Russell, the first overall pick from the 2007 NFL draft, is drawing "significant" interest from an unidentified team, according to an Ian Rapoport's report on Tuesday during "NFL Total Access". Russell, who has reportedly dropped 50 pounds, is willing to sit behind someone and learn. If no one signs him within a month or two, he's "more than open" to catching on with a CFL team. Michael David Smith with Pro Football Talk makes the point for us:
But the way Russell used to throw the football was on display in 2009, Russell’s last season, when he completed 48.8 percent of his passes while throwing three touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. With that track record, it’s hard to see why any team would have any interest.
But then the thought hit me.
Could that be the Bengals?
Cincinnati isn't necessarily stacked with proven backup quarterbacks. In 20 career games, John Skelton has generated a 15-25 touchdown-interception ratio. Josh Johnson nearly went the entire 2012 season without an NFL team before the Browns signed him on December 26. Zac Robinson has, at this point, been a career practice squad player. Any one of them could rise from now until the end of preseason; we're just going off what we know at this point.
We find it hard to believe that the Bengals are comfortable with their backup quarterback solutions.
Additionally, we know that Mike Brown loves big-armed quarterbacks.
Now adding Russell won't improve the team's backup quarterback situation (nor are we saying that the Bengals should nor are showing interest). It would just saturate a roster battle between average (if not mediocre) quarterbacks. But it's the Bengals. They've signed those players no one else wanted before. And this one is a quarterback.