Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Report: Falcons backup QB role open to competition this offseason
Matt Schaub turns 39 years old in June, but he might not serve as Matt Ryan's backup quarterback again in 2020.
Will McFadden of Atlantafalcons.com reported Tuesday that Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff expects Kurt Benkert and Danny Etling to compete for the backup quarterback job and implied the loser of the competition will be the third-string signal caller. However, Dimitroff also left open the possibility of Schaub returning.
Schaub has been Ryan's backup since 2016. During that span, he's only made one start -- in large part because of Ryan's incredible durability -- but Schaub has been an intricate part of the Falcons' quarterback room. Ryan reportedly likes having Schaub as a sounding board on the sidelines during games and in the meeting rooms.
But similar to last season, the salary cap will likely determine whether Schaub comes back to Atlanta. The 38-year-old has a team-option worth $2.375 million for 2020 season, but the Falcons can cut him and save $2 million against the cap. Schaub's dead cap hit will only be $375,000 if he's cut before June 1.
With the Falcons possessing some of the least amount of cap space in the league again this offseason, saving that $2 million is tempting.
However, Benkert and Etling have never played in an NFL regular season game. Benkert played well early in the preseason last year, but he sustained an injury in August that knocked him out for the remainder of the 2019 season. Etling is still very raw and honestly showed more as a runner than as a passer during the 2019 preseason.
If Ryan suffered a major injury in 2020, Schaub is definitely the preferred option of those three behind him.
Schaub would be a dropoff from Ryan, but he would give the Falcons a chance to win most games. He did just that against a Seattle team that eventually made the playoffs last year. In Week 8 versus the Seahawks, Schaub completed 39 of 52 passes for 460 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He nearly led the Falcons back in a 27-20 loss.
