Will The Bucs Keep 3 Quarterbacks in 2012?

[micheal89156]

Will the Tampa Bay Buccaneers keep 3 quarterbacks on their active roster in 2012?
 
As training camp approaches, it’s becoming more and more clear the Bucs may well go to battle with three arms in their arsenal.  That third arm could be that of one Brett Ratliff.  Ratliff has been around, have no doubt.  He’s seen stints with the Jets, Browns, Jaguars, Patriots, Browns (again), and finally the Buccaneers.  But does he really have a future with the Bucs?
 
There’s a few things that have to be kept in mind, with regard to Ratliff.  He’s been in the NFL for five years already.  He’s no longer practice squad eligible.  He’s not getting any younger.
 
So, why do we have Brett Ratliff?  Is he really going to provide competition for the back up quarterback role, or is he actually part of the future of the Bucs?  You don’t get on five NFL rosters without having some redeeming qualities, and that makes Ratliff somewhat of a mystery.
 
If the Bucs do decide to go with only two quarterbacks this season, then why even have Ratliff on the roster?  He will be picked up off waiver wires, without question, and if not he’ll fade off into the sunset.
 
Ratliff is taking up a roster spot that could have been used on an undrafted free agent quarterback who they may actually be able to hide on their own practice roster.  Ratliff…  Not so much.
 
Why else would the Bucs have Ratliff if they don’t plan on going with three quarterbacks?  It appears they very well may.


http://bucsfeed.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/will-the-bucs-keep-3-quarterbacks-in-2012/

[BTownBucFan]

Brett Ratliff???

This kid is a non-factor.  Basically a traveling PS guy that was out of football last year til we added him to our PS late in Dec. 

Simple reason he is on the roster right now .... WE NEED QB'S TO THROW THE BALL IN TRAINING CAMP

[Skull and Bones]

Kind of a silly article.

[BucsFTW]

Brett Ratliff???

This kid is a non-factor.  Basically a traveling PS guy that was out of football last year til we added him to our PS late in Dec. 

Simple reason he is on the roster right now .... WE NEED QB'S TO THROW THE BALL IN TRAINING CAMP

That's what I was thinking...  Non-issue.

But I gotta admit, wouldn't it be just as easy to have any of a number of young arms out there that are available, just to see if you can find a diamond in the rough, while keeping a fresh arm for TC/pre-season...?

I mean... IF you KNOW you're not going to keep the guy, why have him...?  Better practices...?  I dunno.

Why not pay a guy, who actually MAY develope into something, instead of paying for someone you have no intention or capabilty of retaining?

It IS the off season, but it seems like some valid questions to me...

[ryan24]

I'm not sure he's right about Ratliff not being PS eligible and why he believes Ratliff would be claimed on waivers if he is.

[tripblood]

Meh. Unless he lights it up in training camp.. Cut his azz!!

[BucsFTW]

I'm not sure he's right about Ratliff not being PS eligible and why he believes Ratliff would be claimed on waivers if he is.

I'm 99% sure on his eligibility.  He's tenuered with his "accrued season", etc.

I'm thinking he probably sees him getting picked up, if nothing more than the fact the NFL has around half of the starters go out due to injury every year.

Personally, I'd rather see the keys being handed to Orlovsky, simply based on his actual "real game" playing time.  He started 5 games last season (I think).

Ratliff has never taken an NFL live snap...  Unless he comes out in preseason and absolutely lights it up, It's Orlovsky IMO.

[BucsFTW]

Meh. Unless he lights it up in training camp.. Cut his azz!!

Or this........ ^^^^^

[NotDeadYet]

   Injuries happen... Going into the season, if Freeman has some sort of "nagging" injury, like a bad hammie, shoulder, etc, isn't quite 100%, Ratliff may well be needed as a 3rd QB. He has had some pre-season success in the past, and DOES have a strong arm.

[ryan24]

I'm not sure he's right about Ratliff not being PS eligible and why he believes Ratliff would be claimed on waivers if he is.

I'm 99% sure on his eligibility.  He's tenuered with his "accrued season", etc.

I'm thinking he probably sees him getting picked up, if nothing more than the fact the NFL has around half of the starters go out due to injury every year.

Personally, I'd rather see the keys being handed to Orlovsky, simply based on his actual "real game" playing time.  He started 5 games last season (I think).

Ratliff has never taken an NFL live snap...  Unless he comes out in preseason and absolutely lights it up, It's Orlovsky IMO.

If Ratliff had been credited with a full season, he would not have been PS eligible last season since last year was clearly not an "accrued season" and he's spent multiple short periods on other teams PS since the only season he was on a 53 in '08. It's possible he may have spent too much time on the PS previously but it's tough to figure out. I think the rules for both "accrued season" and the PS squad eligibility have changed slightly from the previous CBA to the current one making it even more confusing. Throw in the fact that there have been instances in the past in which players who appeared to not be eligible at first glance  wind up on the PS, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Ratliff was PS eligible.

There's always been a debate as to whether the PS rules focus on the 53 man or 45 when the CBA refers to "active" but in the past it appears that it refers to being game day active and not simply being on the 53.

[Bschucher]

Boy, not much to talk about these days. LOL. 12 days until TC fellas...

[Boid Fink]

Ratliff does have a rifle arm.

Certainly better than Java's boy, Carpenter....ha ha ha ha ha ha!!

[BucsFan4090]

I dont care frankily. 3rd string QBs rarely make it into games.

Once the back up comes in...it really becomes a running offense/short passes to limit the possibility of another injury.

Just so glad that turd Jordan Jefferson never made it past a day or so.

Whatever happened to "mah sources" guy saying Jefferson was going to dog us and make us look like fools.

[BucsFTW]

I'm not sure he's right about Ratliff not being PS eligible and why he believes Ratliff would be claimed on waivers if he is.

I'm 99% sure on his eligibility.  He's tenuered with his "accrued season", etc.

I'm thinking he probably sees him getting picked up, if nothing more than the fact the NFL has around half of the starters go out due to injury every year.

Personally, I'd rather see the keys being handed to Orlovsky, simply based on his actual "real game" playing time.  He started 5 games last season (I think).

Ratliff has never taken an NFL live snap...  Unless he comes out in preseason and absolutely lights it up, It's Orlovsky IMO.

If Ratliff had been credited with a full season, he would not have been PS eligible last season since last year was clearly not an "accrued season" and he's spent multiple short periods on other teams PS since the only season he was on a 53 in '08. It's possible he may have spent too much time on the PS previously but it's tough to figure out. I think the rules for both "accrued season" and the PS squad eligibility have changed slightly from the previous CBA to the current one making it even more confusing. Throw in the fact that there have been instances in the past in which players who appeared to not be eligible at first glance  wind up on the PS, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Ratliff was PS eligible.

There's always been a debate as to whether the PS rules focus on the 53 man or 45 when the CBA refers to "active" but in the past it appears that it refers to being game day active and not simply being on the 53.

Don't know for sure Ryan...  I thought his '08 season alone left him ineligible, but maybe the writer knows something I don't.

I DO recall hearing Mark Cook make reference to it, but I'll have to look a little deeper to be sure.

What I'm wondering is - could the guy actually push Orlovsky for the back-up role?

Regardless, I think the asnwer's pretty clear.  It can be found below, from the current CBA:

Section 4. Eligibility:
(a) The Practice Squad shall consist of the following players, provided that
they have not served more than two previous seasons on a Practice Squad: (i) players
who do not have an Accrued Season of NFL experience; and (ii) free agent players who
were on the Active List for fewer than nine regular season games during their only Accrued
Season(s) . An otherwise eligible player may be a Practice Squad player for a third
season only if the Club by which he is employed that season has at least 53 players on its
Active/Inactive List during the entire period of his employment.
(b) A player shall be deemed to have served on a Practice Squad in a season
if he has passed the club's physical and been a member of the club's Practice Squad for
at least three regular season or postseason games during his first two Practice Squad
seasons, and for at least one regular season or postseason game during his third Practice
Squad season. (For purposes of this Section, a bye week counts as a game provided that
the player is not terminated until after the regular season or postseason weekend in question.)
Section 5. Active List: If a player on the Practice Squad of one club (Club A) signs an
NFL Player Contract with another club (Club B), (1) the player shall receive three weeks
salary of his NFL Player Contract at the 53-player Active/Inactive List minimum even if
he is terminated by Club B prior to earning that amount, and (2) Club B is required to
count the player on its 53-player Active/Inactive List for three games (a bye week counts
as a game) even if he is terminated, traded, or assigned via waivers to another club or is
signed as a free agent to another club's 53-player roster or another club's Practice Squad
prior to that time. If the player is terminated from Club B's 53-player roster and signed
to Club B's Practice Squad, he shall continue to count on the club's 53-player Active/
Inactive List but shall not count against the eight-player Practice Squad limit until
the three-game requirement has been fulfilled. If a player is terminated prior to the completion
of the three-game period and is signed to Club B's Practice Squad or is signed or
assigned to another Club's 53-player roster or Practice Squad, any Salary (as that term is
defined in Article 13, Section 4 that he receives from any NFL club applicable to the
three-game period shall be an offset against the three weeks' Salary that he is entided to
receive from Club B. If the promotion occurs with fewer than three games remaining in
the Club's regular season, the three game requirement for roster count shall not carry
over into the next season.
Section 6. Contagious Disease Addendum:
(a) All Practice Squad players will execute an addendum to the Practice
Player Contract relating to the Contagious Disease Policy (as set forth in Appendix J).
1 6 1
(b) If a player is elevated from Practice Squad to the 53-player Active/
Inactive List for a game because a club was given roster exemptions due to
confirmed or suspected cases of a contagious disease among its players, then the terms
of the addendum in that Player's Practice Player Contract will be in effect. A Practice
Squad player who is elevated to the 53-player Active/Inactive List under these circumstances
will not be required to sign an NFL Player Contract for that game.
(c) Any player who is elevated from the Practice Squad to the affected club's
53-player Active/Inactive List for the game will be paid 1 /1 7th of the Paragraph 5 minimum
salary for Active/Inactive List players with the same number of credited seasons.
Any games for which a player is elevated in this manner to the 53-player Active/Inactive
List would count for purposes of earning a Credited Season for both minimum salary
and pension credit and an Accrued Season for purposes o f free agency, even though
player is playing under the aforementioned addendum to his Practice Player Contract.
(d) At the conclusion of the club's game, any player who was elevated from
the Practice Squad to the affected club's 53-player Active/Inactive List for the game will
automatically revert to the club's Practice Squad roster without going through waivers.
(e) In the event a Practice Squad player: (1) sustains a football-related injury
(either in a practice prior to the game or in the game itself) after being elevated to the 53-
player Active/Inactive List under the circumstances described in Subsection (b) above,
and (2) is physically unable to practice or play for the Club due to the injury, then the
player'S weekly compensation specified in Paragraph 4 of the Practice Squad Player Contract
will be adjusted to 1 / 17th of the Paragraph 5 minimum salary for players not on a
Club's Active/Inactive List (i.e., the "down" amount) with the same number of Credited
Seasons. Such a player shall receive this weekly "salary continuation" for so long as he
remains physically unable to perform the services required of him because of such injury.
Once the Practice Squad player is physically able to perform the services required of him
by his Practice Squad Player Contract, then his salary will be adjusted to the amount set
forth in Paragraph 4 ("Compensation") of that contract for the period of time he remains
on the club's Practice Squad.
(f) If a Practice Squad player sustains a football-related injury during the
game in which he was elevated (or during a practice after being elevated but prior to the
game) and is subsequently placed on Reserve/Injured, then he will be paid (for so long
as he remains physically unable to perform the services required of him because of such
injury) the prorated portion of the Paragraph 5 minimum salary for players not on a
Club's Active/Inactive List (i.e., the "down" amount) with the same number of Credited
Seasons. A Practice Squad player, who is placed on Reserve/Injured under these circumstances,
must be signed by his Club to an NFL Player Contract at the time he is
placed on that reserve list category.
(g) If a player receives salary under the circumstances set forth in Subsections
(e) or (f) above, then those games shall count toward a Credited Season under the
Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan.
(h) If a Club chooses to add the Practice Squad player to its 53-player Active/
Inactive List following the game in which exemptions were granted and the player
was elevated, then the Club must follow all of the established procedures for signing a
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Practice Squad player to an NFL Player Contract (including making room for that player
on club's 53-player Active/Inactive List) .
G) Use of these procedures by any Club in any week of the regular or postseason
shall be in the sole discretion of the Club subject only to prior approval of the
Commissioner and after a showing of confirmed or suspected contagious disease among
its players. The NFLP A and its Medical Director shall be informed when such procedures
are invoked.

Clear as mud...

[BucsFTW]

I dont care frankily. 3rd string QBs rarely make it into games.

Once the back up comes in...it really becomes a running offense/short passes to limit the possibility of another injury.

Just so glad that turd Jordan Jefferson never made it past a day or so.

Whatever happened to "mah sources" guy saying Jefferson was going to dog us and make us look like fools.

Jordan Jefferson...  That's funny.

But 4090, the whole "3rd string QB" position has basically been done away with.  That's why most teams only have 2 on their active 45, and rarely have one on the 53.