QB Roulette: If Manning to Titans, Hasselbeck to Cardinals?

The Cardinals want Peyton Manning.

Having brought the former Colt in for a visit, it’s
obvious the team is looking to upgrade the QB position,
not being totally content with Kevin Kolb and John
Skelton.

However, Manning is receiving plenty of interest from
other teams, including the Denver Broncos and Tennesee
Titans. And, while the QB heading to Denver wouldn’t
really affect the Cardinals, him signing in Tennessee
could.

As ESPN’s Mike
Sando notes, Manning in Nashville would lead to Matt
Hasselbeck getting the boot, and, since the Cardinals
expressed interest in the former Seahawk last year, one
could begin connecting some dots.

The Cardinals could make room for Hasselbeck by declining
to pay a $7 million bonus due to Kevin Kolb by Friday.
We’re dealing in the hypothetical at this point, but so
are the teams. As much as the Cardinals want Manning, they
must prepare alternate strategies. They could have a
choice between Kolb and Hasselbeck if Manning landed in
Tennessee. Hasselbeck would upgrade the position on the
field, in my view, while giving the Cardinals a veteran
mentor for Skelton.

Sando goes on to mention that while Hasselbeck and Kolb
had similar QB ratings last season (82.4 to 81.1), the
veteran signal caller had a significantly better Total
QBR, which takes
into account not only a QB’s stats, but
how each play impacts a game and his team’s chances of
winning.

For the season Hasselbeck completed 61.6 percent of his
passes, throwing 18 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. His
top receiver, Kenny Britt, played in just three games, and
yet he was still able to guide the Titans to a 9-7 record.
So, it’s not as if the guy can’t play anymore, and in
Arizona he’d have that Larry Fitzgerald guy to throw too.

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