Well, the beat goes on. Starting with Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chefs, the quarterback shuffle is still rumbling around the nascent 2013 NFL football calendar. Word out of the desert is the AZ Cardinals, apparently desperate for anything remotely resembling an NFL quarterback, traded for (!) the services of one Carson Palmer. You know, the guy who took the Raiders to the stellar 4-12  record, and he of the 4,000 yards, and 22/14 TDs to INTs (with 7 fumbles thrown in). Actually, his numbers aren’t as bad as I thought. But still, those numbers look to fall dramatically with the Cards being much less good at pass pro than even the Raiders.

Kevin Kolb, the mega-paid future-great-has-been did his own shuffle off to Buffalo. I guess we’ll find out if the AZ climate was detrimental for QB health and he flourishes in the cold confines of northern New York, or if his suckiness follows him like a warm breeze off the desert. So, in retaliation for losing Palmer, the Oakland Prince Valiants have apparently traded for the services of Matt Flynn. He of the miniscule-starts-but-gaudy-numbers ilk (hello Kevin Kolb, Matt Cassell, etc.).

Matt Cassell, another one of the great-backups-on playoff-teams-that-flamed-out-as-the-prospective-savior-somewhere-else, was of course replaced by blog-vortex himself, Alex Smith. Cassell led the Chefs to the playoffs at least before sliding into inconsistency and nediocrity. With Smith in, Cassell has signed with Minnesota to nominally back up Mr Christian Ponder, another inconsistent young QB. Baffling, as both are the same guy, really. Chase Daniel, Drew Brees’ ex-backup in the big easy, will now back up Alex.

Ryan Fiztpatrick, of Buffalo Bills (in)fame(y), put up pretty good numbers but was deemed expendable as they didn’t think he was the “future of the team” QB. Hence the Kolb deal. Fitzpatrick meanwhile is going to the Titans to provide mentoring for yet another inconsistent young QB in Jake Locker. Locker also has the propensity to get hurt, so Fitz will get some Starts, more than likely.  Locker of course is at his own make-or-break stage, so they could very well go through this again next year.

Other moves? Well, Philly still hasn’t named a starter, but the competition between Mutt Vick and now Dennis Dixon (he of new HC Chip Kelly-Oregon fame), looks to be pretty much a one-sided dog fight, with Vick winning. Ex-Niner Josh Johnson signed with the Bengals to back up Ginger.

This looks to be the last of the QB shuffle, and we haven’t even reached the draft. The Jets and Cleveland have been eerily quiet unless you count the Jets signing David Garrard as anything more than a hope and a prayer), but  they are the last of the teams I picked in January to be in the hunt for a QB. There have been a lot of back up moves, but who really cares that Gradkowski is backing up Big Worthlessberger, or that Matt Hasselbeck is now backing up Andrew Luck?

I don’t. But when does Tim Tebow get cut from the Jets?