The NFL season is getting closer to the end and with a number of teams dealing with injuries and questions at quarterback, the 2014 carousel could have plenty of rumors and moves involving big names, including Jay Cutler, Matt Schaub, Sam Bradford, Michael Vick and Brandon Weeden and that means the Browns, Raiders, Bears or Rams could go after Johnny Manziel in the draft.
Cutler is coming into a contract offseason and after the Bears did not give him a contract heading into the year like the Ravens did with Joe Flacco, he could be on the move and he's not the only one. The Rams have questions about Sam Bradford after his ACL injury and the Browns could be done with Brandon Weeden after he was not the answer in Cleveland. Other teams could have new QBs as well, including the Vikings and the Jaguars and Manziel obviously will be one player to watch going forward as the draft gets closer.
All those teams along with the Texans and the Buccaneers could be making changes and the Raiders may not be as sold on Terrelle Pryor as expected. Here is a look at one example with the Rams after they lost Sam Bradford: The St. Louis Rams lost to the Carolina Panthers a few weeks ago in a physical matchup and they also have lost their starting quarterback in the process, as Sam Bradford left the game with a left knee injury and a torn ACL and now he will miss the season and that puts St. Louis in a tough spot.
According to ESPN.com, the Rams were worried about the injury and Bradford had serious ACL tear and that left quarterback Kellen Clemens as the starter. Reports from Pro Football Talk had the Rams a possibility to sign Tim Tebow with the team having discussions about bringing the quarterback in as a possible backup and that was before Bradford was injured. NFL.com originally reported the story and since then there hasn't been much interest, but it could signal a future destination for the quarterback. The PFT report says that the Rams previously were interested in the Tebow trade from Denver, but obviously that never materialized.
Bradford left the game in the fourth quarter of the game after getting hit by a Panthers player and when he was stepping out of bounds he landed awkwardly on the knee and now he could be facing a serious injury. Bradford previously had surgery in college and before leaving the game he completed all but nine of his 30 passes for 255 yards and he also added a nice touchdown to rookie Tavon Austin. Clemens came into the game to take over for Bradford and the former Oregon quarterback and Jets backup went 2-for-4 with just 19 yards passing.
The Panthers won the game 30-15 and Steve Smith went on a tirade afterwards about personal attacks from Janoris Jenkins and other players, while Chris Long was ejected for throwing a punch. Losing Bradford would be a huge hit for the team and the Panthers won off the strength of the play of Cam Newton, who improved to 2-0 over the past two games while throwing for 400 yards combined. The team is ranked 28th in the league in rushing yards and now are 20th in passing yards per game and losing Bradford would put the offense in an even bigger hole after falling to 3-4 this season.
The team had a two game losing streak snapped and then lost again in the Monday night football matchup against the Seattle Seahawks in what should have been a tough divisional game. Even though the game was at home, the Seahawks came in with a win against the Cardinals and had a long week after playing on Thursday night. Jay Cutler was another starting back that got injured on Sunday and the Bears are worried that it could be a serious injury.