Bradley Wants Byron Leftwich, Falcons Continue To Pass

by Dave Choate on Sep 13, 2007 1:14 PM EDT in Falcons News

Today Mark Bradley is exploring a question I think a lot of Falcons fans have been asking since he was cut: why the hell haven't we signed Byron Leftwich? Here's Bradley's take:

So: Why not Leftwich? He has been a starter. He has thrown more NFL touchdown passes (51) than interceptions (36). He can deliver the deep ball. (Whether any of the Falcons' receivers can get deep is another matter.) He can't run, but neither can Harrington. At worst, he'd be a more viable backup than Redman. At best, he might be able to win a couple of games for a team that won't win many.

As mentioned earlier this week, these Falcons don't have much time. The happy talk of preseason, already a fading memory, will be rendered totally inoperative if these first four games end without a win. (And the fourth of those games, as luck would have it, will be against Matt Schaub and Houston. Imagine if the Falcons fall to 0-4 by losing to the quarterback they jettisoned.) If nothing else, hiring Leftwich would send the message that this organization is doing what it can to keep this season from going really bad really fast.

The season can and probably will go bad anyway. But that doesn't mean the Falcons should surrender. Give Leftwich a call. Try as I might, I don't see a downside.

I can't argue with that. Leftwich has had his share of problems in Jacksonville, but if the Falcons can get him on the cheap there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't pursue him. He would already be a better backup than Chris Redman and there's a chance that he could replace Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo if he falters for a few more weeks. I'm at a total loss on this one.

Of course, Bradley's cheapshot at the receivers might help to explain it. If we don't have any deep threats (though I'd argue that; Laurent Robinson looks like he'll be coming on soon), we need a quarterback who is capable of moving around in the pocket and delivering passes with some finesse. Those have been two major knocks against Leftwich since day one in the NFL. I'm not saying that's why he hasn't been signed, but Petrino and Co. seem to have a prototype in mind that isn't Leftwich. Still, I'm going to agree wholeheartedly with Bradley this time. The Falcons should be exploring what it would take to get Leftwich to sign, quarterback controversy be damned.

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