Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Kurt Warner questions Marc Bulger’s desire to be a starter

Pretty much every QB-hungry team out there -- the Cardinals, Panthers, Titans, etc. -- has been linked to free-agent quarterback Marc Bulger at one point or another.

It's all purely fan and media speculation, of course, as 2011 free agency has not yet existed, and might not exist anytime in the immediate future. When it does happen, one or more of those teams will almost certainly call Bulger, but if they do, will he even be willing to take the call?

Former teammate Kurt Warner told KATR radio Bulger might not want a starting opportunity. Via Pro Football Talk:

Though Warner was careful to say that it's not a "huge knock" to not want to be a starter, Warner explained that, in his view, "football [isn't] everything" to Bulger.

"For too many guys, it's all about winning and losing, it's all about starting, it's all about how much money you can make," Warner said.� "And that's not Marc Bulger."

Warner pointed out that Bulger "got beat up pretty good" as the starter in St. Louis, and that it wouldn't surprise Warner to learn that Bulger is "happy" as a backup, and that "he can just enjoy life and not have to worry about the pressure of being an NFL starter and everything that goes with it."

Bulger spent last year as a well-paid backup with the Ravens, collecting $3.8 million and never throwing a pass. Before that lucrative little year, Bulger had spent eight years with the Rams, compiling 95 starts, 122 touchdowns, 93 interceptions, and two Pro Bowl nods.

At least two of those years were also spent getting beaten like a Weeble Wobble in front of an offensive line that offered roughly the strength and resistance of a wet paper towel.

Warner's opinion is interesting, though. He knows Bulger well, having played with him in St. Louis. But even if a guy isn't all about the money, that still might not be a great predictor of what he does if one team offers him, for example, three million over three years to be a backup, and someone else offers him seven million guaranteed over two years to start.

But if it's true that he doesn't want to start (and also doesn't want to leave the East Coast), Bulger's options are sudddenly really limited. This is all probably good news for Baltimore if they do indeed want him back as Joe Flacco's caddie.

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