New on Sports Illustrated: 'Quarantine Quarterbacks' Idea Being Floated Around NFL Circles

SI's Albert Breer reports agents are floating the idea of NFL teams having "quarantine quarterbacks" who are paid by teams to prepare each week remotely, to be used in case of emergency.

There's likely a shared nightmare that keeps NFL front office types up at night: What if, heading into a game week for the 2020 season, an entire quarterback room tests positive for COVID-19?

An outbreak within any position group would be detrimental, but particularly quarterbacks: It's the most important position on the team and has the fewest number of players relative to other positions. In that scenario, what would teams do to even get through a game?

According to one agent, the solution could be simple: quarantine quarterbacks.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer spoke with agent veteran agent Mike McCartney, who explained his idea for teams to have quarterbacks on their roster that train and prepare away from team facilities. They would attend team meetings remotely, stay up to date with the offense and week-to-week game plans, and be trusted to stay in physical shape on their own. These players would make $12,000 per week.

Per Breer:

"It just makes too much sense for a team to have a quarantine quarterback for $12,000 a week," McCartney said. “That’s an extremely inexpensive insurance policy at the most important position, and it gives you a guy who not just knows the offense, but is keeping up with the intricacies of the game plan every week." And the team would be protecting against the doomsday scenario of a COVID-19 outbreak wiping out the quarterback room on a Friday, two days before a game. So anyway, McCartney’s been working on this with experienced clients like Josh McCown (who you could connect to staffs in places like Philly and Chicago, and who lives in Charlotte) and Drew Stanton (who you connect to Arizona, Tampa and Dallas). And certainly, those two aren’t the only guys who’d be qualified for these sorts of roles.

Would the league actually go for this idea? It's unclear at this point, but it's an interesting concept that could protect teams from potentially devastating repercussions of a COVID-19 outbreak within the locker room.