NFL Player News

Bengals owner Mike Brown is confident the team has found a quality quarterback in Andy Dalton, reports Cincinnati.com.

"Andy is a good quarterback," Brown said.

Along with the Bengals, Brown said other teams consider Dalton a quality quarterback as well and that he would benefit from good players around him.

"He is the style of guy who can function best when he has a good group around him," Brown said. "He needs that. Maybe he needs it more than some, but they all need it. There is no quarterback that goes out and has success without good players in the mix."

Although there are reports to the contrary, the Seahawks are not close to a new deal with quarterback Russell Wilson, according to CBSSports.com NFL Insider Jason La Canfora.

Wilson, a third-round selection in 2012, is entering the last year of his rookie contract with the Seahawks. La Canfora wrote during the NFL combine that it could be possible that Wilson plays out his rookie contract.

The 26-year-old has accumulated 9,950 yards passing with 72 touchdowns and 26 interceptions in three seasons played. His 849 yards rushing last season led all quarterbacks.

Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater expects more out of his play than he put on the field his rookie year, per the Pioneer Press.

"I wasn't impressed," he told the Pioneer Press this week.

"Yes, we did some good things as a team," he continued, "but we could have been much better finishing games. That's what separates championship teams and determining whether you're playing games in January or watching games in January."

The Vikings went 6-6 in Bridgewater's 12 starts. Despite his six wins and twelve starts as a rookie quarterback being Vikings' records, he knows that there was more that he could have done on the field.

"I left a ton of plays out there, whether it was due to poor mechanics, bad ball placements, overthrows, underthrows," Bridgewater said. "We want to be a big-play offense, and I have to continue to execute and play at a high level to allow our guys to make those big plays."

The 22-year-old threw for 2,919 yards with 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2014.

Bills head coach Rex Ryan has options at the quarterback spot going into the 2015 season. There will be competition for the starting spot this offseason.

“It’s going to be open,” Ryan told WGR radio, via the team’s official website.  “It’s a competition and whoever earns the job will be the guy that’s out there.”

The Bills currently have four quarterbacks on their roster including Matt Cassel, EJ Manuel, Tyrod Taylor and Jeff Tuel. Ryan brokedown what each signal caller brings to the table.

“We have some talented guys and we’ll see what happens,” Ryan said.  “You bring in a veteran like Matt Cassel.  He’s done some pretty good things in this league.  He’s got that veteran presence about him.  With EJ back there just going into his third year I really believe EJ is going to improve with his fundamentals having [quarterbacks coach] David Lee here.  I love the fact that he’s a gym rat and he’s smart.  With our offense being multiple we’ll be able to get out of bad plays, so the mental part of it all of the quarterbacks we have should be able to handle that.

“With Taylor that’s going to be a young man, he’s probably the fastest quarterback in the league,” Ryan said.  “He’s explosive running the zone reads, and we’ll see where he’s at.  Then Tuel.  We’ve got guys there to work with.  That’ll be the important thing.  There will be competition, but a person has to earn the job.  It hasn’t been handed to somebody.”

Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who's coming back from a broken leg, said he'll be limited in OTAs but fully ready for training camp, reports ESPN.com. Geno Smith and Matt Simms will get more reps in OTAs, the report added.

Fitzpatrick is expected to start for the Jets after posting a 95.3 passer rating in 12 games with the Texans last season.

The Redskins are re-signing quarterback Colt McCoy, leaving them with the same trio of quarterbacks as last year, reports ESPN's Adam Schefter. McCoy played well in five games last season, completing 71.1 percent of his throws for 1.057 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions.

He and Kirk Cousins again will be ready to step in if Robert Griffin III gets hurt or is ineffective.

The Eagles would trade third-year quarterback Matt Barkley for a late-round draft pick, reports ESPN's Chris Mortensen. Barkley has appeared in four career games, accounting for five turnovers and zero touchdowns.

Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor turned down more money in free agency to join the Bills, where he'll have the opportunity to compete for a starting job, NFL.com reports.

"There is going to be a competition," Taylor said. "No one is really ahead of the other guy right now. They're looking forward to us coming in and pushing each other to make this team better."

The Bills view Taylor as a zone-read possibility similar to the role 2013 first-round pick EJ Manuel was supposed to fill. Head coach Rex Ryan actually indicated he tried to acquire Taylor during his previous job.

"I actually tried to trade for (Taylor) when I was with the Jets," Ryan told CJCL in Toronto. "If he's not the fastest quarterback in the league, he's certainly up there with them. He's got great run skills. I'm not gonna say he's Russell Wilson, but he's got a little of that in him, where he's able to run zone-reads and pull the ball down and be effective."

Taylor, Manuel and offseason acquisition Matt Cassel are set to compete for the team's starting quarterback job heading into the 2015 season.

Eagles coach Chip Kelly and Rams coach Jeff Fisher both said that a team offered a first-round draft pick for quarterback Sam Bradford. 

Bradford was traded from the Rams to the Eagles for quarterback Nick Foles last week.

Neither coach identified the mystery team, but in an appearance on the Michael Kay Show, former NFL GM Charley Casserly said it was the Browns. 

"I'm looking at Cleveland," Casserly said. "The information I have is that they offered a one for Sam Bradford, ok, so clearly they're aggressive in trying to get a quarterback. They've got two one's. (They) can't be sold on what (they've) got. I think they'll be aggressive in the draft."

Jets quarterback Geno Smith has seen far more downs than ups in two NFL seasons. Entering his third year, Smith will be asked to produce far more, especially now that he has receiver Brandon Marshall in town. 

Marshall, in an interview with the New York media on Friday, was complimentary of the young quarterback, who has yet to throw more touchdowns than interceptions in a single season. 

“I just think he has a drive and a passion that a lot of people don’t see,” Marshall said, via the New York Post. “From my conversations with him so far, it’s really got me excited.”

Smith only managed 2,525 yards, 13 touchdowns with 13 interceptions a season ago. He was sometimes pulled in favor of backup Michael Vick in games where he struggled mightily. Assuming Smith is the starter in 2015, he won't have as much leeway with new coach Todd Bowles at the helm.