But it also is the time of the year when coaches must start gathering information to make some tough decisions and begin dealing with some harsh NFL realities. That is particularly true for those coaches of franchises without a clear-cut solution at quarterback.
Not every team has a Pro Bowl player at the sport's most important position. Not every team was able to land a prized rookie to provide hope that perhaps a franchise player has arrived. Some teams don't know yet who will be the season-opening starter. In a few cases, the likely starter to open the season does not have the credentials to inspire confidence.
It was an offseason in which there were not enough capable quarterbacks to go around. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Jameis Winston with the top pick in the NFL draft, and the Tennessee Titans chose Marcus Mariota second overall. The Philadelphia Eagles traded one would-be starting quarterback, Nick Foles, to the St. Louis Rams for another, Sam Bradford. A number of free agents with less-than-dazzling resumes moved from team to team.
There remain unsettled quarterback situations league-wide as training camps get underway. Here is a look at the most intriguing of them:
--Tom Brady vs. the NFL, Patriots
Veteran players for the New England Patriots are scheduled to report to training camp Wednesday, and it is not clear whether Brady's appeal of his four-game DeflateGate suspension by the NFL will be resolved by then. So it's possible the Patriots will open camp not knowing whether their four-time Super Bowl winner or Jimmy Garoppolo, Brady's second-year understudy, will be their quarterback when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL's season-opening game Sept. 10.
The group that has surrounded Brady and Coach Bill Belichick during the Patriots' dynasty has changed ceaselessly. Belichick never has been afraid to make the tough, unsentimental choices necessitated by the salary cap. He parted ways abruptly with standout players such as cornerback Ty Law, safety Lawyer Milloy, linebacker Mike Vrabel, defensive lineman Richard Seymour, wide receiver Randy Moss and guard Logan Mankins.
But Belichick and Brady have been the constants. Even before their fourth Super Bowl triumph last season, Patriots owner Robert Kraft called them the greatest coach-and-quarterback combination in league history. Brady missed almost an entire season in 2008 when he suffered a knee injury in the opening game, and Matt Cassel took over and helped the Patriots to 11 wins and a playoff near-miss. But otherwise it has been Belichick, Brady and their ever-rotating supporting cast.
The DeflateGate saga has consumed virtually the entire offseason and most recently has given way to talk of settlement negotiations or a lawsuit by Brady and the NFL Players Association if Brady's suspension if not rescinded by Commissioner Roger Goodell on appeal. More remains to play out, and the timetable for that is uncertain. The Patriots face the prospect of having to spend time preparing both Brady and Garoppolo, a second-round draft pick in 2014, to start the opener.
"I've definitely gotten more confident throughout the year," Garoppolo said during Super Bowl week. "Growing from being a rookie in minicamp to where I am now, I feel a lot more confident."
Will he put that to an immediate test this season? Will DeflateGate end up giving the Patriots a glimpse of life after Brady? That remains to be seen.
--Josh McCown vs. Johnny Manziel, Browns
The Cleveland Browns were supposed to be off the list of quarterback-needy teams after using a first-round draft choice on Manziel in 2014. But Manziel certainly wasn't the answer as a rookie, failing to win the starting job from Brian Hoyer during a preseason marked by Manziel directing an obscene gesture at the Washington Redskins' sideline. Manziel sat and watched most of last season, then was far from productive when he got his chance.
He is back for his second training camp with the Browns after spending part of his offseason in treatment, reportedly for alcohol dependence. There is little reason for the Browns to feel secure that Manziel and suspended wide receiver Josh Gordon can be their future offensive cornerstones as they once envisioned. There were reports during the offseason that team officials were ready to move on from Manziel.
In free agency, Hoyer left and McCown signed with the Browns. McCown almost certainly will enter the season as the starter, and Manziel has much work to do to reassemble his NFL career. But McCown, with his career passer rating of 76.1, is on his seventh NFL team and never has been the long-term solution anywhere else. Manziel could get another chance at some point, if for no other reason than the lack of a proven alternative.
--Matt Cassel vs. EJ Manuel vs. Tyrod Taylor, Bills
The Buffalo Bills have much going for them as they attempt to gain ground on the Patriots in the AFC East. They hired Rex Ryan as their coach. Ryan inherited a rugged defense, and he traded for tailback LeSean McCoy to be the centerpiece of his running game.
But does he have a quarterback? Kyle Orton retired. The Bills traded for Cassel and signed Taylor in free agency to go with 2013 first-round pick Manuel. There are some within the league who privately express the belief that Taylor, who made zero regular season starts in four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, might be Ryan's best option.
--Ryan Fitzpatrick vs. Geno Smith, Jets
Is it time for the New York Jets to give up on Smith as the team's prospective franchise quarterback? That's what the team's first-year coach, Todd Bowles, must decide.
The Jets gave themselves a decent but mostly unexciting alternative by trading for Fitzpatrick, who had a passer rating of 95.3 last season for the Houston Texans but has a career mark of 79.5. The Jets bolstered their roster in other areas, trading for wide receiver Brandon Marshall and signing cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie in free agency. But will they have quarterback play good enough to make that matter?
--Brian Hoyer vs. Ryan Mallett, Texans
J.J. Watt practically did it all, on offense as well as defense, last season but couldn't quite get the Texans into the playoffs. Maybe he should have taken a few snaps at quarterback.
Fitzpatrick is gone, and the Texans signed Hoyer to go with Mallett, who was re-signed in free agency. It's an interesting choice for Coach Bill O'Brien. Hoyer kept the Browns in the playoff race much of last season. But he was derided as a mere game-manager even while he won, and a particularly unproductive stretch of games for Hoyer gave Manziel his chance in Cleveland. Manziel failed, and Hoyer's play with the Browns perhaps looked better in retrospect.
Mallett has stunning arm strength but has made only two starts in four NFL seasons in New England and Houston. O'Brien must decide whether Mallett is ready to be entrusted with a team that was on the cusp of a postseason spot last season.
--Robert Griffin III vs. Kirk Cousins vs. Colt McCoy, Redskins
Is this the final chance for Griffin to make things work in Washington?
The Redskins exercised their fifth-year option for the 2016 season in Griffin's contract and have called him the team's starter. But that option is guaranteed for injury only, not performance, and it is for a 2016 salary hefty enough — $16.155 million — that Griffin probably must play well this season to be kept around.
Griffin has endured two seasons of injuries and disappointing play since his electrifying rookie year in 2012. He demonstrated in that dazzling debut season that he can be a top-tier NFL quarterback under the proper circumstances. It seems premature to suggest that he is done and all is lost three seasons into his NFL career.
But certainly his Redskins tenure is at a crossroads. He must prove he is the right quarterback for Coach Jay Gruden's offense. He must reestablish that he can be an accurate passer, and he must find the proper way to blend his running and throwing skills. He must show that his injuries have not diminished his physical gifts.
The Redskins have alternatives — perhaps viable, perhaps not — in Cousins and McCoy. But this is all about Griffin and finding out, maybe once for all, whether he can succeed with the franchise that surrendered so much to get him.
--Sam Bradford vs. his knee (and Mark Sanchez), Eagles
Philadelphia Coach Chip Kelly's mad-scientist offseason routine included bringing in a quarterback in Bradford who is working his way back from a twice-torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and played 49 of a possible 80 games in his five seasons with the Rams.
Foolish?
Brilliant?
As with so much that Kelly did, it's difficult to say. Bradford is a talented passer when healthy. Kelly certainly knows how to orchestrate an offense. However it works out, it should be fascinating to watch.
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