| ProFootballWeekly.com asked
contributing editor Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on some of the latest NFL free-agent
signings. 
Chiefs sign Wiegmann
Buchsbaum: Wiegmann did a nice job last year when Olin Kreutz was injured. He’s a
quality backup who’s definitely good enough to start. He’s a scrappy player. He’s
a versatile player. They want to get younger, quicker and cheaper on the offensive line,
so it looks like Tim Grunhard is on the way out.
PFW: What’s the latest on the Chiefs’ QB situation?
Buchsbaum: The two leading possibilities at quarterback for the Chiefs appear to be
either still coming up with a trade for Trent Green or getting Steve Beuerlein from
Carolina, possibly playing the waiting game for Beuerlein. Beuerlein will not be in
Carolina next year. That’s virtually guaranteed. It just seems to me the Panthers
want to get young. They figure they can’t go to the Super Bowl with Beuerlein, so
they might as well develop somebody. It’s more like a "we’ll take one step
to take two steps forward" approach. They went for broke last year, bringing in all
the old guys — Reggie White, Chuck Smith, etc. — and it just blew up in their
faces.
PFW: Does Beuerlein’s situation show just how hard it is for a guy to shed
the journeyman tag? Two years ago, he was awfully good, but last year, in fairness to him,
he had no receivers that were healthy.
Buchsbaum: It is unfair. But the same thing happens to a lot of players who have been
mediocre much of their careers. If they do well late in their career, unless they’re
very athletic players, they don’t get a lot of credit. It happened to guys like Steve
DeBerg, Bill Kinney, etc. But Rich Gannon plays like a younger guy because he can move (so
he earns the credit). If a quarterback can run, move and scramble for yardage, no one
thinks of him as old. (Gannon was) a running quarterback who finally learned to be a
passing quarterback.
Jets decline to match Miami’s offer to Lucas
Buchsbaum: Basically, they couldn’t afford the cash, and he’d be a very
unhappy camper if he had to come back. He was very unhappy, and they gave him a break.
They probably could’ve matched and tried to make a trade, and then made a trade, but
he would’ve been very bitter about that.
PFW: Can you envision his role with the Dolphins?
Buchsbaum: I think his role is to challenge Jay Fiedler and replace Damon Huard as the
backup if he doesn’t win the starting job. He’s a very athletic player, but you’ve
got to set the gameplan to the things he does well. Two years ago, he struggled at first,
when he took over as the starter, but then when the Jets found out what he could do well
and limited their gameplan to fit him, he was quite successful. Last year, each time, he
had to come in under emergency situations, and he really struggled. So he really is not
that suited to be a backup. He’s best if, when your started goes down and you need
him to start six or seven games, you redesign the offense to fit him.
PFW: Fiedler is a different style of quarterback than Lucas, isn’t he?
Buchsbaum: They’re both mobile quarterbacks, and both good athletes. They’re
both versatile. |
