This has been the offseason of the whiny quarterback in the NFL. Several quarterbacks either aren’t happy with the current situation they find themselves in on their roster or aren’t pleased with the offers they’ve received in free agency.
I’m talking mostly about Sam Bradford, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Nick Foles for the most part, although Colin Kaepernick might also be in the mix. He seems to have checked his ego though and let his bank account swell.

Foles hasn’t been too bad either, but he isn’t being a good team player. Coming off one of the worst seasons a quarterback has had in the league in sometime as a mostly starting option, the Rams made the move to find Foles’ replacement or future replacement in this year’s draft. Los Angeles drafted Jared Goff after some maneuvering up to the number one pick. There were rumors that Case Keenum was favored to start over Foles before Goff even arrived on scene.
Now Foles appears to be pouting about his situation. He skipped voluntary workouts for the team in protest of Goff’s selection. Rumor has it that the Rams are looking to trade him now. The Cardinals, Jets and 49ers have all been linked as potential trade partners.

While Foles is clearly unhappy and looking for a change of scenery, he has been as openly frustrated as Bradford. The two quarterbacks are somewhat linked after a trade last offseason saw them swap teams. Bradford seemed to be Chip Kelly’s passer of choice in Philly, but now Kelly is in California while Bradford remains in eastern Pennsylvania.
Bradford still seems to have his job as well, and is scheduled to make $35 million over the next two seasons. He really has nothing to whine about, but that hasn’t stopped him so far.
Before, I mentioned the Jets as a potential trade partner to land Foles and that is because they have a disgruntled quarterback of their own. Well kind of. Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t currently under contract with New York, but they seem to be his only real suitors. The Jets know that they likely cannot find much success this season with Geno Smith as the starting quarterback. Fitzpatrick knows that too. However, Fitzpatrick knows that the league doesn’t seem interested in paying a soon to be 34-year old journeyman quarterback a competitive salary. The Jets know that too. Hence the ridiculous stalemate.

It seems like New York is willing to give him a reasonable contract, but Fitzpatrick is interested in getting top dollar for his services. He continues to holdout for a better deal and has voiced his discontent to his former teammates. He even has gone as far as to say that he would consider retirement if he could not find an acceptable offer.
For all three of these quarterbacks, it’s time for them to suck it up and realize that the NFL is a business. Now I know that I cannot speak from a player’s perspective on these issues, but they are being paid a lot of money to play this game and their satisfaction with every decision the franchise makes is not part of the contract. To me, these three signal callers demonstrate an unfortunate trend with professional athletes who think that their needs trump those of all others. They are so focused on themselves that they are not willing to think of the well-being of the team.
Those are the kinds of players that, as a coach, a general manager or a fan, I don’t want on my team. Their selfishness shows that they are not willing to make sacrifices for the good of the team and weak mental makeup shows that they are not what you are looking for in the form of a quarterback.