Colt

McCoy

McCoy was unofficially retired last season after the Cardinals released him during final roster cutdowns. The Browns drafted him 85th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. He spent three seasons with the team before making stops in San Francisco, Washington, New York (Giants), and Arizona. McCoy was a career backup who proved to be valuable at every stop he made as a pro and could be counted on for a solid start in a pinch. He walks away with a line of 7,975-34-32 and reportedly has “a high profile broadcasting job secured,” per Fox Sport’s Peter Schrager.

McCoy was the presumed starter for the Cardinals heading into the offseason but has now been outdone by rookie fifth-rounder Clayton Tune and recently acquired Joshua Dobbs. Training camp reports on McCoy completed 9-of-12 passes for 42 yards in the preseason and struggled to push the ball downfield in camp. Set to turn 37 in September, McCoy has bounced around several teams since entering the league in 2010. He could catch on with another team later this season, but this is somewhat bleak for the former Texas Longhorn.

The Cardinals have now made three trades in less than 12 hours. Dobbs, who was announced as the Browns’ QB2 by Kevin Stefanski just hours before the trade, will now head to the Cardinals to compete for a starting job with Colt McCoy and Clayton Tune with less than three weeks to go until their Week 1 matchup against the Commanders. Dobbs played under Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing during his first stint in Cleveland and could benefit from that familiarity. Regardless of who wins the starting job for the Cardinals, they’ll only be worth a fantasy spot for the most desperate of teams — which is putting it nicely. In other news, Browns rookie QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson looks like the new backup to Deshaun Watson, and Kellen Mond, who was waived earlier in the day, has been removed from waivers and will remain with the Browns.

Rosenthal didn’t go as far as to suggest Tune would be the Week 1 starter for the Cardinals, but it wouldn’t be improbable. As Rosenthal did point out, Tune, along with Colt McCoy, David Blough, and Jeff Driskel, have all received first-team snaps in camp. ESPN’s Dan Graziano also mentioned a few weeks ago that Tune fits well in the Cardinals’ offense and “offers some mobility that may help him fit the system Arizona is installing better than [Colt] McCoy.” Tune will get his first taste of NFL action on Friday when the Cardinals take on the Broncos. A few strong preseason outings by the rookie could put him in the mix to be the Week 1 starter.

Tune and McCoy are expected to compete for starting duties with Kyler Murray recovering from a late-season ACL injury that could keep him on the shelf for the first part of the regular season. Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon in June complimented Tune’s accuracy and his running of the team’s offense in minicamp. Tune, a fifth-round selection in the 2023 draft, threw for a combined 7,618-70-10 in his final two seasons at Houston. He proved erratic at times, leading college football with 18 turnover worthy plays in his final collegiate season, per Pro Football Focus. With some rushing upside, Tune shapes up as a late-round pick in superflex formats.

“What I like is he’s not scared. He made some tight fits. His handle of the offense has impressed myself and I know the coaches because we’ve thrown a lot at him.” The Cardinals got a look at Tune running their offense this spring in the absence of Kyler Murray (knee) and Colt McCoy (neck). With Murray likely to miss the start of the year, hype is building for the fifth-round rookie as the next Brock Purdy. McCoy’s status coming off surgery opens up Tune to compete for the No. 2 job, a role that could land Tune as the Cardinals’ starter come Week 1.

Coach Jonathan Gannon confirmed that McCoy is rehabbing from surgery he had after the season. McCoy played through a neck injury in December but it’s not clear if that’s related. With Kyler Murray (knee) likely to miss the first half of 2023 and McCoy questionable for OTAs, the Cardinals are expected to add a veteran quarterback this offseason.

Arizona has nothing left to play for, so the team is being cautious with McCoy and shutting him down for the final week. He appeared ready to go for Week 17 before his concussion symptoms reappeared, forcing him to sit out on Sunday. McCoy threw for one touchdown and three interceptions while appearing in roughly three and a half games for the Cardinals this season. He averaged 5.9 yards per attempt. With Kyler Murray’s readiness for Week 1 of the 2023 season in question, it’s possible the Cardinals look for an upgrade over McCoy in the offseason. However, McCoy is under contract for another year, so releasing him would come with a small cap hit.

He cleared protocol earlier this week and was practicing in full, but McCoy experienced symptoms after yesterday’s practice and will instead sit this one out. You probably weren’t planning to play him anyway, but if you were, your pivot is David Blough. Good luck with that.

McCoy will start in Week 17 against the Falcons. McCoy isn’t even an average starting quarterback, but he still presents a massive upgrade over Trace McSorley. With McSorley under center in Week 16, DeAndre Hopkins reeled in just one of his ten targets for a total of four yards. McCoy isn’t a fantasy option for the fantasy championship week, but his return puts Hopkins and Marquise Brown back in play as WR2 and FLEX options respectively.