When free agency begins this week, there will be contracts that make people rub their eyes and wonder if they had one drink too many last night.
And one of them figures to be for Buccaneers backup quarterback Mike Glennon.
According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, the expectation among sources at the Scouting Combine was that Glennon’s next deal would come in around the $14 million to $15 million per year range.
That sounds ridiculous on its face, primarily because Mike Glennon.
He has five starts since his 2013 rookie season when he was thrown into the fire, and none in the last two seasons. He’s only attempted 11 passes in the last two years while sitting behind Jameis Winston. But his market figures to be strong because he’s available without having to trade anything away or use a draft pick, and the Bears and Jets have already been mentioned as possible destinations.
And while the number causes you to reach for another cup of coffee and might give you flashbacks to Osweilerian excess, it’s really not that out of line.
There are 13 quarterbacks with deals averaging more than $20 million a year, and nine more making $16 million a year or more (taking you down to the Andy Dalton/Alex Smith/Sam Bradford neighborhood).
So while it’s a big number, especially for a Mike Glennon, it’s not out of line for a bottom-third of the league starter. And frankly, if you’re spending that kind of money on a Mike Glennon, that’s probably what the team around him dictates he’s going to be.