He was Tampa Bay’s second-round draft pick in 2010 but never has been much of a force and certainly not someone the opponent’s defense has to game-plan for. His best season with Tampa was his second season, the 2011 campaign, when he had 30 receptions for 441 yards and 3 TDs. He missed half of last season with injuries and started in but a single contest. He had 4 catches for 26 yards for the entire year and is obviously deemed expendable by the franchise that nabbed star WR Vincent Jackson during free agency last season.

It looks like Philadelphia signed him on as a reserve, since their dynamic WR tandem of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin remains intact. The Eagles appear to be focusing on revamping their defense as they were soft last year and are switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4, requiring a different personnel mix.

Nov 27, 2011; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets tight end Dustin Keller (81) drags Buffalo Bills defensive back Justin Rogers (26) and free safety Jairus Byrd (31) into the end zone for a touchdown during the third quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Dolphins have been the team that has made the biggest splash in free agency so far this season, having signed WR Mike Wallace, LB Dannell Ellerbe, and LB Phillip Wheeler prior to today as well as keeping WR Brian Hartline in the fold with a new contract.

Embattled Dolphins’ GM Jeff Ireland is trying to save his job and spending worse than a drunken sailor to do so. Today, we discover some of the terms of the Mike Wallace deal, and he will cost the team over $17 million against the salary cap in 2014. The only more expensive WR in that year is Larry Fitzgerald.

They signed former New York Jets TE Dustin Keller to replace departed TE Anthony Fasano while upgrading the position at the same time.

The team also added former St. Louis Rams WR Brandon Gibson with a 3-year deal. Within one off-season, they’ve gone from being the most WR-needy team in the NFL to one of the most stacked at the position today.

Sept. 23, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb (4) during the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Eagles 27 – 6. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

Meanwhile in Arizona, $11 million per year QB Kevin “Korn on the” Kolb was released primarily due to costs, but his durability is also a concern. Their issues on the offensive line certainly didn’t help Kolb’s cause, but it isn’t clear that the team won’t re-sign him later at a greatly reduced rate depending on the interest in Kolb from other teams. Just a shrewd guess here, but something tells me other NFL teams won’t be beating down his agent’s door.

The Cardinals have Brian Hoyer and Drew Stanton at QB as-is, and it’s quite possible another QB-needy team like the Jets or the Buffalo Bills could give him a good look. Since the Cardinals have pick 7 in next month’s draft and Buffalo the eighth, the Bills cannot count on West Virginia QB Geno Smith, who had a very impressive workout during W.V.’s Pro Day yesterday, being around at #8 overall. The chess match is on, it appears.

Too bad the Carolina Panthers don’t have the cap room to sign Greg Jennings. I sure wish they did.

While at this stage of his career I’m not sure that he’s better, faster, or stronger, but former New England Patriots WR Wes Welker signed a 2-year $12 million contract today and is rising among fantasy football owners already anticipating the Manning-to-Welker combination.

Welkers’ deal is probably one of the most visible along with that of former New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush, who also signed this afternoon…the second day of the free agency period for the 2013 NFL season.

The Lions got Reggie for a relative bargain at 4 years and $16 million. The Lions reportedly are tempting him with being the team’s “featured” back in a previously precarious position. That part isn’t such big news, however, as RB Jahvid Best had to retire due to symptoms from multiple concussions and hasn’t played a meaningful down in nearly two years. Mikel Leshoure and Joique Bell will back him up while Bush’s explosiveness makes the Detroit offense that much more scary with Megatron on the outside.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall signed with the Arizona Cardinals today as well. Mendenhall is probably one of the best signings of any team I think. He’s coming off injury but has low mileage overall, runs with power between the tackles and does have a little bit of speed to go with it as a hard-nosed running back – something that Beanie Wells was drafted for several years ago but never did become.

Mendenhall signed a one-year $2.5 million contract as I see the value of the position declining in general in recent years. Gone are the days of the high-dollar running back now that the passing game is the de facto play on any given down and the rules have become more and more friendly to receivers. He’ll be playing under HC Bruce Arians, who was the Steelers’ OC earlier in Mendenhall’s career there, so the two know each other well.

The scary thing? The day isn’t over yet and more people are being signed as time passes…stay tuned!

But they obviously had made their point and the organization agreed with them on one thing: they needed a franchise quarterback.

So, what city’s fans are most likely to show up at the gates of their franchise with megaphones and “Blow for Barkley” signs this season?

Teams who have their 2012 starter in place but will be looking for one in the 2013 NFL Draft:

Arizona certainly will be unless they make a trade before then.

Oakland Raiders – Here’s another team with QB depth but no “breadth.” Carson Palmer has never been the same player he was before he injured his knee in the playoffs some 5 years ago. Matt Leinart has firmly established his credentials as a something-less-than starting NFL QB, and Terrelle Pryor is better suited to be a star tight end than a QB. He also happens to be the only QB on their roster that still has some upside so unless he gets a shot at starting late in the season (when the Broncos have sealed the division and the Raiders are out of any Wild-Card race), look for the silver and black to begin rebuilding in earnest from the disaster that was Hue Jackson’s one-year reign. While Palmer is the starter, I don’t think his place is as solid as may be believed. He shouldn’t be turning the ball over the way he has been at this point in his career, so the Raiders will still be looking for answers throughout the season.

New York Jets – Tebow or no Tebow…that is not the question. The question is “Can Mark Sanchez carry the team if they need him to?” So far, the answer has been a resounding NO. Entering his 4th NFL campaign, Sanchez isn’t nearly as good as Jets’ brass had thought when they traded up to nab him 5th overall. He’s also not as bad as a lot of analysts and pundits have claimed he is but he’s not a franchise-type quarterback. Franchise QBs can take an otherwise-average offense to the playoffs with good defensive play. They don’t even have to have great arms or athletic ability; they have to play within themselves and within the system. The best recent example of this I can think of is the Dolphins’ Chad Pennington. The Jets’ cast-off beat those same Jets, who had Brett Favre at their helm, to win the division and a home playoff game. The may have overachieved a bit but they played solid defense and Pennington took care of the ball, completing 67% of his passes and even finished high in the league MVP voting that season. This season will be the one that Sanchez is going to have to assert himself and if the preseason is any indication, he won’t. They have yet to score a TD on offense in the preseason. The fans are started becoming more impatient with his streaky play last season and are going to call for his head when they finish in the basement of the AFC East in 2012.

San Francisco 49′ers – Surprised that I included them after Alex Smith had a career year? You shouldn’t be. Head Coach Jim Harbaugh says the PC things to say about his guy, if you’ve listened to “Coachspeak” long enough, you start to learn some of the code words and phrases through hindsight. Sorta like when an owner says of his Head Coach “So-and-So is MY GUY” a few months before firing him. If Harbaugh were really happy with Alex Smith, he wouldn’t have pursued Peyton Manning. The whole thing started to look toxic when Smith went to Miami to talk about signing with them, but the Dolphins had made up their mind that Tannehill was going to be their guy. Therefore, they didn’t settle on a second-tier talent like Alex Smith nor Matt Flynn with their Kevin Kolb-like $8 million a year price tag. As any good organization would do, the Niners smoothed things over with their quarterback and added truckloads of receivers to upgrade and deepen their talent there. With any kind of salary cap management at all and relative few holes to fill in 2013, they have the luxury of either choosing a QB at the bottom of the first round or even moving up some if need be. Their fans remember the Montana/Young days and the trophies they brought to the Bay City.

Kansas City Chiefs – Matt Cassel had a career-high 93.0 QB rating in 2010, but hasn’t posted very good numbers with the Chiefs otherwise, throwing only 1 more TD than INT in his other two seasons playing home games in Arrowhead. The Chiefs picked up Brady Quinn after two seasons in Denver, where he failed to beat out Kyle Orton. Cassel was injured again last season, and Ricky Stanzi quickly proved he wasn’t the answer. Rookie Alex Tanney from Monmouth College is the only one left, but the Chiefs have too much offensive firepower to waste millions of dollars a year on while they languish with mediocre QB play. They should be in the market for a franchise QB next year.

Buffalo Bills – Ryan Fitzpatrick may be the brightest of any NFL QB, having played his college ball at Harvard. Solving quadratic equations in his head won’t put the ball in receivers’ hands, however, and he is one of the streakier passers in the league. His ceiling is now known to be somewhat low, but his floor is somewhat high at the same time. Barring a breakout season from Fitz this fall, the Bills will probably be looking for their franchise QB in 2013 with the understanding that Fitz is good enough that if they have to sit a rookie for part of a season (or a full one), they’ll still be okay. Therefore, if the value is there for them (ie: they don’t have to trade up or trade up far), they may well grab one.

To recap, here are the teams I have in mind early that will draft a projected franchise QB in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft:

Arizona Cardinals: 100% chance

Jacksonville Jaguars: 85% chance

San Francisco 49′ers: 80% chance

Kansas City Chiefs: 80% chance

Oakland Raiders: 75% chance

New York Jets: 75% chance

Buffalo Bills: 70% chance

Miami drafted theirs this year and shouldn’t be looking, but every season it seems that the over/under looking for such a QB is six teams.

There still could be one team TBA….Philadelphia could look for one to groom if rookie Nick Foles doesn’t look the part. Michael Vick is 32 and has only played a full 16 game slate once since he was drafted in 2001 but missed 2007-2008 for an all-too-familiar reason among we animal lovers. They need a good backup with Vick’s injury history and will need a starter in another few years to begin with. The Minnesota Vikings’ Christian Ponder will probably get this year and next to prove his worth before they start to worry about drafting another as they’ve got a lot of holes to fill. Coaches and players are too professional and proud to “blow games” that they might win just to secure a particular draft pick.

Philadelphia Eagles: 20% chance

Minnesota Vikings: 15% chance