The NY Giants officially signed former Dallas Cowboys backup QB, Cooper Rush, on Tuesday.
I feel like I heard about the NY Giants potentially signing former Cowboys signal-caller Cooper Rush before somewhere…hmm…where might that have been? Oh, that’s right, it was here as soon as the fourth-year quarterback was released from Dallas to make room for Andy Dalton.
I’m very surprised that more of the media didn’t put two and two together because this seemed very obvious to me.
I think former Cowboys backup QB will at least get signed as a camp arm with the Giants.
— GMEN HQ (@GMENHQ) May 5, 2020
From there, he could (should) get a real look for the #2 job.
He’s 26, Garrett loves him and we need a long term backup.
(He’s got good success w/ undrafted QBs, too 😉)
For starters, Rush spent three years learning directly under Jason Garrett as his clear-cut #2 quarterback after coming into the league undrafted in 2017. Garrett clearly saw something from the get-go and liked even more how it progressed, and when evaluating Garrett’s successes with QB’s (even undrafted ones like Tony Romo), that’s a strong sign.
You’d have to assume he’ll know the ‘new’ system he’s walking into almost front and back which is very important, especially in a year where there will be far fewer practices and meetings than ever. Sure, there will be a few tinkers to Garrett’s offense like there are every year, but he should have no problem picking them up.
Next, from the NY Giants point of view, they had one of the worst backup QB situations in the league with two guys far on the wrong side of 30 who haven’t produced much of anything lately – well, that’s unfair to Colt McCoy as he’s actually done some work in the NFL, Alex Tanney has hardly even put down the clipboard.
Due to Tanney having no guaranteed money owed to him in 2020 (rightfully so), and Colt McCoy’s one-year deal calling just for $1.7M in guarantees, it would hardly hurt the team to move on from the two vets and make Rush the backup QB of the future should he play well in the limited offseason.
Garrett already knows about him to vouch for him to Joe Judge, though, so you can bet on him being the backup to open 2020. At that point, what’s the point of keeping McCoy or Tanney around?
Since the NY Giants picked up Rush off waivers – having one of the highest priorities – they will assume his full $2.1M RFA tender. So, he’ll come into camp as the youngest, and probably best, quarterback with the highest salary.
I like his odds to win the #2 job, and long term, it’ll be the best possible thing for this franchise to have a quarterback that could potentially step in should he ever suffer a (minor/fingers crossed) injury.
Maybe the NY Giants backup quarterback job wasn’t all that important in 2020 when the team still isn’t expected to legitimately contend, but this move has the potential to pay dividends down the line.
Another shrewd move from Dave Gettleman, who seems to be listening to the people around him for once (Judge/Garrett).