Looking for work
We're almost three months into free agency and Colin Kaepernick is still unsigned. Some NFL writers and fans attribute this to the controversy surrounding Kaepernick, while FOX Sports' Dieter Kurtenbach is among those who insist he's not been signed simply because he's not that good anymore.
Critics point to his 3-16 record the past two seasons and poor completion rate (59.8 percent). Supporters point to his career TD/INT ratio of 72 to 30 and his 88.9 passer rating.
What's not up for debate is which free-agent QBs already have been signed this offseason. It's not a star-studded list. Just take a look, and then continue to ponder the curious case of Kaepernick.

Mike Glennon, Bears
Glennon got a three-year, $45 million deal from Chicago despite throwing just 11 passes the past two years while backing up Jameis Winston in Tampa. Even though the Bears can get out of the deal cheaply enough after one year, they're still paying $16 million this season to a guy with 18 career starts, a poor completion rate (59.4 percent) and 84.6 passer rating.

Brian Hoyer, 49ers
At the moment, Hoyer is the guy who will replace Kaepernick as the starter in San Francisco. The 31-year-old journeyman played for new Niners coach Kyle Shanahan in Cleveland and comes at the low price of just $12 million for two years. (And that's the second-biggest QB contract signed so far!)
If the 49ers add another QB, then Hoyer easily can assume a backup role as he did last year in Chicago, where he made five starts after Jay Cutler got hurt and put up solid numbers (67 percent, 6-0 TD/INT, 98 rating).

Nick Foles, Eagles
Like Kaepernick, Foles hasn't had the best past two years. He went from three-year starter in Philly to one-year bust with the Rams (after being traded for Sam Bradford) to a backup in Kansas City. He played well in two games last season (65.5%, 3-0 TD/INT, 105.9 rating), which enticed the Eagles to bring him back to back up Carson Wentz for two years and $11 million.

Josh McCown, Jets
Not one but two former Browns QBs have secured jobs while Kaepernick still waits. The soon-to-be 38-year-old McCown heads to New York on a one-year, $6 million deal. The Jets used three QBs last season and the Browns four, so both sides know the value of having a backup ready to go. And McCown's value still is fair despite his 2-20 record the past three seasons and modest career numbers (59.1%, 78.2 rating).
Jets GM Mike Maccagnan said he vetted Kaepernick along with other options but declared the team's chances of adding another veteran QB "highly unlikely".

Landry Jones, Steelers
Pittsburgh is happy having Jones backing up Ben Roethlisberger, and vice versa. That pretty much sums up his two-year, $4.4 million deal.
Jones has been doing it for three years and has been moderately successful, completing 60.3 percent of his passes with an 82.8 passer rating. He's made four starts and won two. The Steelers can live with that, and apparently so can Jones.

Matt Barkley, 49ers
Chicago cut loose its top three QBs after going 3-13 last season, and San Francisco, bless its heart, has signed two of them. (And Jay Cutler still is available!)
Barkley likely will back up Hoyer again — and any other QB the Niners add — after throwing 14 interceptions in seven games (six starts) last season.
Niners fans will wonder why new GM John Lynch signed a guy with a 63.7 career passer rating — worse than any of the three Niners QBs the team cut loose. But Kaepernick, at least, who made $14 million last year, surely wouldn't have signed for two years and $4 million as Barkley did.

Mark Sanchez, Bears
To repeat: Chicago cut loose its top three QBs after going 3-13 last season and signed ... Glennon and Sanchez.
Sanchez backed up Dak Prescott last season and threw two interceptions in 18 attempts. Before that, he couldn't earn a roster spot in Denver competing against Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch and Austin Davis.
That got Sanchez a one-year, $2 million deal.

Geno Smith, Giants
The Jets cut loose two of their top three QBs last season, then signed Josh McCown for $6 million. Smith, meanwhile, had to settle for $1.2 million from the Giants. But at least he didn't have to move.

Josh Johnson, Giants
New York clearly has decided it makes no sense to spend money on a backup QB when Eli Manning has made 211 consecutive starts. (He can pass Peyton for No. 2 all-time this season.)
So sign Geno Smith for $1.2M and re-sign Johnson for two years and $1.015M. That's two backups for next season for less than Mark Sanchez will make.

EJ Manuel, Raiders
Manuel says he never got enough of a chance in Buffalo, where he started 17 games in four seasons. His mediocre numbers say otherwise. Oakland, which watched its season end on the shoulders of third-string QB Connor Cook in the playoffs, apparently isn't too concerned about acquiring better insurance for Derek Carr, signing Manuel for $800K. With Matt McGloin moving on to Philly, it looks like Manuel and Cook will battle for the backup job.

Kellen Moore, Cowboys
This is the last time most of us saw Moore — being carted off with a broken leg, clearing the way for Dak Prescott to become the backup QB, then the starter when Tony Romo went down. The rest is history. And for Moore, what could've been.
Well, the rest is still unwritten. Dallas decided it likes having Moore as a backup better than Sanchez, and with Romo retiring, Moore gets another chance to be the No. 2 guy, returning on a $775K contract. And if Prescott goes down with an injury, Moore just may get his chance to shine — unless Jerry Jones calls Romo and he comes running.

Aaron Murray, Rams
The Rams' QB situation was a mess for most of last season, so with No. 1 draft pick Jared Goff getting a chance to start, LA has passed on re-signing Case Keenum and instead has added Murray, the former Georgia star who was drafted by the Chiefs in the fifth round in 2014 and spent last season on the Eagles' practice squad. Murray hasn't taken an NFL snap yet, so the Rams may want to add more insurance in case Goff goes down.

Chase Daniel, Saints
Daniel is returning to New Orleans, where he began his career backing up Drew Brees, on a one-year deal.
Daniel, the highest-paid reserve QB in the NFL last season behind Tony Romo, reportedly asked Philadelphia to release him from his three-year, $21 million contract after one season backing up Carson Wentz, because he believed he should be a starter. Daniel has completed 65.4 percent of his career passes but attempted just one last season, and has only two starts under his belt.
Philadelphia was happy to oblige and brought back Nick Foles as a much cheaper and better backup.

Case Keenum, Vikings
Keenum, who started nine games for the Rams last year, likely signed with the Vikings as insurance in case Teddy Bridgewater isn't able to back up Sam Bradford. He's reportedly getting $2 million for one year.
Keenum has started 24 of 26 career games, and if you throw out an 0-8 season he had as a rookie with Houston he's been marginally successful and fairly accurate. However, the Rams' struggles last year and the pressure to play No. 1 pick Jared Goff cost Keenum his job.

David Fales, Dolphins
A sixth-round pick in 2014, Fales hasn't gotten much chance to prove himself. Despite the Bears' revolving door at QB last season, Fales played in just one game and attempted five passes. That's the extent of his NFL experience. He's reunited with former Bears coach Adam Gase in Miami and will compete with Matt Moore for the backup job.

T.J. Yates, Bills
Yates is tied with Matt Schaub and Brock Osweiler for the most playoff wins in Texans history and has as many as Jay Cutler has in 11 seasons: one. However, that was back in Yates' rookie season of 2011, and he's made only two starts in the five seasons since. Yates was signed last year by Miami as insurance after Ryan Tannehill went down, but he never attempted a pass. Yates may not attempt one in Buffalo either after signing a one-year deal; the Bills also have Cardale Jones and draft pick Nathan Peterman backing up starter Tyrod Taylor.

Matt McGloin, Eagles
McGloin, who'd been relegated to backup duty the past three seasons, found himself starting for a playoff-bound Raiders team after Derek Carr went down late last season. It lasted just one game, with McGloin going 6-of-11 for 21 yards against Denver before being sidelined by a shoulder injury that kept him out of the Raiders' playoff loss to the Texans. Now he joins Nick Foles in backing up Carson Wentz.

Blaine Gabbert, Cardinals
Gabbert, a 2011 first-round pick, has lost starting jobs in Jacksonville and San Francisco, going 9-31. He went 1-4 last season before being replaced by Colin Kaepernick. Gabbert was much better in 2015, completing a career-high 63.1 percent of his passes in eight starts for the Niners. Gabbert is just 27 while Carson Palmer is 37, so maybe Gabbert's chance at starting again isn't over. Trent Baalke sure believed in him.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buccaneers
Fitzpatrick's struggles last season with the Jets were so pronounced — he threw six interceptions in a Week 3 loss — that you forget he set a Jets record with 31 TD passes in 2015. And that he'd thrown more TD passes than INTs in each of the previous six seasons. Fitzpatrick has thrown 166 TDs to 133 picks in his career and has started 116 of 127 games. Plus, he's smart (did you know he went to Harvard and scored a 48 on his Wonderlic?). But Fitz is 34 now and a backup for Jameis Winston, which means his hopes of scoring another big deal likely are gone. Mike Glennon was Winston's backup the past two years and threw just 11 passes.

Austin Davis, Seahawks
Kaepernick visited Seattle but was not signed, with coach Pete Carroll calling him "a starter in this league". Then the Seahawks signed Davis for the veteran's minimum, so we guess that means he's not a starter in this league?
Davis, undrafted out of Southern Miss, once was labeled a potential Tom Brady or Kurt Warner by none other than fellow Southern Misser Brett Favre. Davis had some highlights while winning three games in eight starts with the Rams in 2014 but lost his job to Shaun Hill and then went to Cleveland, where he was benched in favor of Johnny Manziel then released. Last year he signed on with Denver in the preseason and lasted longer than Mark Sanchez, but he was out of a job again by late December.