We live in a world defined by the haves and have nots, and the NFL is no different.  The league is made up of two types of teams: those who have a quarterback and those who don’t.  I’m not talking about Aaron Brooks or Kyle Boller… I’m talking about legitimate winning quarterbacks.  And if you take a look, NFL rosters are really lacking in this department.  Go ahead, try and make a list of the top ten QBs in the league, and realize by nine or ten you’re trying to convince yourself that Eli Manning is already an elite quarterback.

To say that the quarterback position is important to a football team is to say that getting carjacked makes the morning commute uncomfortable. It's the understatement of the century.  There’s a reason why four out of the last five MVP’s have been quarterbacks, not to mention nine out of the last twelve.  Consider, however, that Brett Favre three-peated and Kurt Warner won twice, as did Peyton Manning.  Taking that into account, only five quarterbacks represent the nine MVP awards, showing both the importance and disparity of the position.  With such an enormous distinction between the elite quarterbacks and the lower-level ones, teams must figure out a way to compensate for this lack of talent and the method as of late has been to stockpile skill players.  Owners and GMs have decided that by signing talent for the supporting cast, they can mask the shortcomings of their quarterback. No era has shown more evidence of this than the current free agency period, where money is being thrown at wide receivers and running backs even though they have no one to get them the ball.

Most of the teams that have been following this trend not only are void of a quarterback, but are also void of winning records; coincidence?  Not surprisingly, the following storylines have been the biggest splashes in the free agent market.  

Is It In The Cards?
Possibly the biggest signing this off-season was Edgerrin James to the Cardinals.  Everyone’s original reaction was clearly excited.  “Imagine Edge with those receivers, they’re going to be ridiculous!!”  Just one question though:

WHO IS GETTING THEM THE BALL?!?!? 

Don’t tell me Kurt Warner is an MVP quarterback when his last good season was five years ago.  And last time I checked Josh McCown was related to Cade, which is never good.  (Editor’s Note: Josh McCown is not related to Cade McNown, despite the fact that they both suck, but when Adam Lefkoe goes on a rant it’s like watching a tornado so I prefer to just let him go.) I understand that this team has high hopes now that they have Edge, but will they be verified?  

Gimme Some Skin
The Redskins have been fiddling with this process for years, bringing in constant new talent to surround average quarterbacks.  They’ve brought in Clinton Portis, Laveranues Coles, Santana Moss, and now Antwaan Randle El and Brandon Lloyd; all solid talents who experienced success at their previous stop.  Granted the Redskins did make the playoffs this year, but that was mainly thanks to their defense (check the playoff game tape for details). 

At the end of the previous few seasons the Redskins were a bottom dweller in the NFC East. Coincidentally, they’ve never had a good quarterback during this span.  Brunell is past his prime, Ramsey went to Tulane University, and you all remember the disaster that was Rob Johnson.  Last year the Redskins traded up in order to draft Jason Campbell out of Auburn; will he be the future?  Brunell and Ramsey are clearly not, no matter who surrounds them (knock knock Dan Snyder).

Brown and Out
For years, Cleveland has been one of the laughingstocks of the NFL.  No surprise then that reading their list of quarterbacks makes me laugh so hard I cry:  Trent Dilfer, Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb, Jeff Garcia. The team’s slogan should be ‘Cleveland…where quarterbacks go to die.’

So what have the Browns done to try and stop the tide of terrible QB play? Ignore the problem entirely of course. Along with signing the ever-reliable Joe Jurevicius, the Browns decided to be a little more conservative and focus on the offensive line.  LeCharles Bentley and Ken Shaffer plan to provide a lot of time for the quarterback…BUT WAIT, is it even worth it?!?  Does Trent Dilfer have anything left to lead this team anywhere?  They invested a high draft pick in Charlie Frye last year, is he ready to perform? Cleveland hopes to answer its questions at quarterback indirectly through the other positions.  In this league however, success comes side-by-side with the quarterback, not a star center (How did the Saints do with LeCharles?).

While the less successful teams in the NFL are clamoring to snap up these skill players, the winning teams seem to have no problem letting them leave.  The Colts seemed unfazed by releasing Edgerrin James, the Steelers were far from paralyzed when Randle-El left, and the Eagles have been prepared to let go of T.O. for months. 

Now take a moment to look at the QBs of these teams.  Peyton Manning (the best quarterback in the league), Donovan McNabb (a definite Top-5), and Ben Roethlisberger (Super Bowl Winning Quarterback) are three of the best in the league.  Not to mention that these teams are three of the most successful in the past years.  The correlation between a solid, winning quarterback and overall team success is indisputable, and the same can be said about weaker QBs and losing teams

It is clear that the NFL is a league of the haves and have nots.  The teams that have a quarterback have all the success, and those who have not…well, have not a chance.  Teams need to drop this free agency fad and stop covering up their quarterback mess.  Then again, maybe Trent Dilfer’s due to win another Super Bowl.

Adam Lefkoe is a sophomore Broadcast Journalism major at Syracuse University.  Hailing from outside of Philadelphia, Adam prides himself in his loud and knowledgeable attitude towards sports and is constantly generating debate among his peers. You can reach him at adam.lefkoe@atomicsportsmedia.com