NFL Free Agency Turning Into a Literal QB Carousel

Dwight Howard has made loyalty a household word, because he's too loyal and has always believed loyalty was over anything (even though he has held the city of Orlando hostage for the last few months, but he says that he loves them).

At least in the NFL the players are honest. They want to get paid what they are worth. If they're current team is not willing to float the bill they'll find another one. If they are actually worth paying someone in the NFL will be willing to do it.

The early days of the NFL's free agency period have shown fans already that there is no loyalty; it's all about the money. No one knows that better than the latest group of quarterbacks to switch teams or be rumored to be switching teams—and there's a bunch of them.

Peyton Manning is of course the man everyone is watching. It appears that the race is down to San Francisco, Denver, and Tennessee. Should or when any of those options become a reality there will be another QB on the market.

One of those QBs has started to take matters into his own hands. Alex Smith has been in conversations with the Miami Dolphins. The ‘Fins got aggressive with Smith once they got dumped by Manning. Smith has a deal on the table, but after taking his team deep into the playoffs he probably thinks he deserves a little more respect than he's getting (and he does).

Seattle was briefly rumored to be interested in Manning, but were never serious contenders. They took care of their QB issues anyway by signing former Green Bay back-up Matt Flynn. After throwing for a franchise record 480 yards the Packers knew he'd get a lot of interest from teams, but with Aaron Rodgers they just couldn't pay him what others would.

The Seahawks appear to have learned from Arizona's mistake, i.e. giving Kevin Kolb such a huge deal after very limited experience as a starter. Flynn's deal is for three years and worth up to $26 million. They've recognized that he's got talent and promise, but they want to make sure he's not a one-hit wonder.

Tim Tebow has to be wondering about his future as well. John Elway has shown that he does not have the confidence in young Tim that he claimed to have by pursuing Peyton Manning so aggressively. Should he lose the Manning Race it is thought that he'll go after the displaced starter in the city Manning does go to (Matt Hasselbeck or Alex Smith).

It's starting to look like Miami might have a hard time finding a veteran QB that is willing to come to South Beach. Whether it has anything to do with GM Jeff Ireland (who proved he has questionable ethics and people skills with the way he treated Dez Bryant a couple years ago) remains to be seen.

The QB carousel could get more interesting at the end of April following the '12 draft after we see exactly where guys like Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Kellen Moore, Ryan Tannehill, and Brandon Weeden.

A lot has happened already folks, and with free agency just beginning who knows what could be next!

Article by Travis Pulver