The Cincinnati Bengals and quarterback A. J. McCarron are in a hearing today which will determine if he is to granted unrestricted free agent status.

https://youtu.be/wYaI2ShSUYw

The Internet is buzzing already that John Elway and the Denver Broncos will be pursuing A. J. if he is granted unrestricted free agent status.

Elway famously landed former Colts' QB, Peyton Manning, via free agency and won a Super Bowl.

If McCarron wins his grievance he automatically become an unrestricted free agent.

If he loses, he will remain a restricted free agent allowing the Bengals to determine his fate. They attempted to trade McCarron in November of 2017, but that deal was rejected by the NFL office due to untimely paperwork filing.

The Jaguars are in an excellent position to compete for a McCarron signing. Should McCarron lose arbitration, Tom Coughlin and David Caldwell can negotiate a trade then work out a long-term contract with McCarron. They can also wait until restricted free agency begins then sign McCarron to a contract the Bengals are unlikely to match.

Stay tuned!

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Who cares. He's not a starter.

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Per Dan Graziano of ESPN : I was told the McCarron decision could be delayed beyond today for personal reasons on the part of the arbitrator.

Looks like we will have to wait a little longer to see if McCarron can sign with the Browns as a FA or if he will need to be traddd there.

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Who cares.  He's not a starter.

Are you saying he was given the chance to become the Cincinnati Bengals' starting quarterback, but failed?

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Per Dan Graziano of ESPN : I was told the McCarron decision could be delayed beyond today for personal reasons on the part of the arbitrator.

Looks like we will have to wait a little longer to see if McCarron can sign with the Browns as a FA or if he will need to be traddd there.

Count John Elway and the Broncos in. Remember Elway boldly signed "over the hill" Peyton Manning and won a Super Bowl with him.

Let's not discount his friendship with Tom Brady. What's to say the Patriots didn't pull some strings to get the November trade between the Browns and the Bengals voided. A year of tutoring by Brady and two years with Brady backing him up.

Better teams know the value of players like A. J. McCarron. 

I hope Tom Coughlin and David Caldwell will be able to land A. J. McCarron is certainly a substantial upgrade over what we have.

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LOL. McCarron.

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LOL.  McCarron.

What's so funny about bringing in A. J. McCarron? He's better than Blake Bortles by far.

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LOL.  McCarron.

What's so funny about bringing in A. J. McCarron? He's better than Blake Bortles by far.

No...he isn't.

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There is no way to put any meaningful evidence on either side of the Blake is better or McCarron is better side.

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McCarron won the grievance btw so he's a UFA now.

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LOL.  McCarron.

What's so funny about bringing in A. J. McCarron? He's better than Blake Bortles by far.

No. He's not.

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He’s officially a free agent as of now. I wouldn’t mind signing him for competition but I dont think he’s better than Bortles and he’s going to the browns who will overpay for his services.

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There is no way to put any meaningful evidence on either side of the Blake is better or McCarron is better side.

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McCarron won the grievance btw so he's a UFA now.

Awesome news. The reports this morning stated the arbitrator was out for personal reasons and the decision would be delayed.

According to several recent reports confirming A. J. McCarron's status change from restricted free agent to unrestricted free agent, he will hit the market with the rest of the UFAs March 14th.

McCarron is quoted by ESPN:

"I'm not the one -- the people that know me and truly know me, and my family knows -- it's not about the money for me. I just love playing football. Making the money is great but I just want to play. ... Whoever gives me an opportunity. I'm not going to chase the huge contract and be put in a situation that I might not be one hundred percent comfortable with just because it's a lot more money or whatever. I want to go somewhere where I can win and help the team win and we have a bright future together. I'm just super excited for this next chapter," he told the Enquirer.

I really hope that Tom Coughlin and David Caldwell can bring McCarron in and get him signed to a contract both sides feel comfortable with.

I wonder if Bortles defenders can name one single NFL team out there that wants him? Tell that team to make the Jaguars an offer.

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McCarron obsession is real.

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https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/ranki...arterback/

"The Jags are a quarterback away from being a really serious Super Bowl threat; we don't know exactly how much of an upgrade McCarron will be, but we do know he would be an upgrade over Blake Bortles. If he is serious about taking less money, moving to Florida would help him out from a tax standpoint."


ESPN is directly quoting A. J. McCarron from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

[font=Georgia,]"I'm not the one -- the people that know me and truly know me, and my family knows -- it's not about the money for me. I just love playing football. Making the money is great but I just want to play. ... Whoever gives me an opportunity. I'm not going to chase the huge contract and be put in a situation that I might not be one hundred percent comfortable with just because it's a lot more money or whatever. I want to go somewhere where I can win and help the team win and we have a bright future together. I'm just super excited for this next chapter," he told the Enquirer."[/font]

To be clear, NFL head coaches are tied to their "franchise" quarterback. Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton rise and fall together in the same way Jack Del Rio and Byron leftwich were tied together. 

That relationship between head coach and his "franchise" guy leads to screwy things.

Who can forget how ridiculous Del Rio was to start Leftwich, fitted with an air splint on his foot, for the 2005 Wild Card game v. New England, rather than go with David Garrard, who had all the momentum in the world?

What was he thinking?

Blake Bortles was Gus Bradley's guy, not Doug Marrone's. Gus is long-gone.

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https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/ranki...arterback/

"The Jags are a quarterback away from being a really serious Super Bowl threat; we don't know exactly how much of an upgrade McCarron will be, but we do know he would be an upgrade over Blake Bortles.

And how, exactly, do we know that McCarron would be an upgrade over Bortles?   He has all of 920 yards passing in his entire career, almost all of it in 2015.  Not exactly a huge body of work to judge him from.

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I guess we have found spacecoastjags version for McCarron

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This is going to be a long 4 weeks.

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I'll repeat what I said in another thread. Look up McCarron's career stats and tell us all how in the world anyone can say he's better than Bortles. In fact, how can anyone say he's anything at all? His career stats consist of 920 passing yards, almost all of it in 2015. We have so little to go on, it's impossible to judge whether he's the next Tom Brady, or the next Blaine Gabbert.

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What a joke.

That's 'making a case'?

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McCarron and his backup Johnny Manziel.
Then had Tim Tebow as a TE.

Souparbawl 2019 baby !!!

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Don't understand the infatuation with this guy. Really don't. Even at Alabama he had a strong running game and a strong defense. And I can't remember if he had Julio Jones or not. But either way. He hasn't done [BLEEP] with the Bengals either.

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"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."