FanHouse PatrickRamsey

Clay Travis is a Titans fan. Ryan Wilson is a Steelers fan. With Tennessee and Pittsburgh kicking off the 2009 season tonight, they decided to mock each other over e-mail.

Ryan: First off, congratulations on Patrick Ramsey making the 53-man roster. Pretty good chance he'll play before Week 6, and, really, the road to Miami goes through a former Tulane graduate who Steve Spurrier once pegged as the Redskins' future.

In February, the Vikings sent a fourth-round pick to the Texans, and in return, got quarterback Sage Rosenfels. He's penciled -- and I can't stress this enough -- in as the starter, what would be Minnesota's fifth in six years.

But like recent offseasons, there's talk that Brett Favre is mulling a comeback, even though, at this point, everybody just wants him to go away. (I mean, seriously, when Peter King writes in his MMQB column that "I know you're sick of this story. We all are...", it might be time for Favre to permanently retire to the ole fishin' pond.)

Three weeks ago, the Redskins' interest in quarterback Mark Sanchez was strictly pre-draft scouting and due diligence. Now, with the NFL draft 10 days off, it sounds a lot more like owner Dan Snyder has fallen in love. Again.

After losing out in the Jay Cutler sweepstakes -- and subsequently having to reassure Jason Campbell that he's the team's starter (for now) -- the 'Skins might be in the quarterback business come draft day. When I wrote about it last month, it seemed far-fetched; I even joked that Snyder had been taking his anti-insanity meds:

Another former Denver quarterback is on the move, though I doubt this transaction will register as high on the excitement scale as the Jay Cutler trade to Chicago.

Tennessee has agreed to terms with Patrick Ramsey, who served as Cutler's backup for the past two seasons. Ramsey's only action last season came at the tail end of a 41-7 blowout loss to the Jets -- he completed two-of-three pass attempts for 19 yards. The Titans will be Ramsey's fourth team, following Denver, the Jets and Washington.

Maybe drafting Matthew Stafford would be a total success for Detroit. Maybe it would be an unmitigated disaster. There's just no way to know for sure how things will work out. It's a total crapshoot -- so the Lions should put the dice down, pick their money up and cash in whatever chips they hold in exchange for Denver quarterback Jay Cutler.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

It's a brave new world in Denver, where the Broncos will take the field without Mike Shanahan on the sideline for the first time since 1995. Josh McDaniels, their new coach, was 19 back then, and has one of the shortest resumes of any head coach in NFL history. That could be a good thing or a bad thing, but it was clear that Shanahan's system was no longer bearing fruit and the team may benefit just from the change of voice on the sideline.

With Jeff Garcia out of the picture in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers' quarterback position is a bit of a question mark. If the season opened right now, the team's starting quarterback would likely be Luke McCown, whom the team recently signed to a two-year contract extension. They also have veteran Brian Griese and 2008 draft pick Josh Johnson on the roster.

According to some of the local scribes in Tampa Bay, there's some chatter around the NFL combine that Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson could be a target in a potential trade.

During the Sunday pregame shows, there was some discussion about the state of the Broncos, an explosive offensive team that refuses to make tackles on defense. The results lead to high-scoring affairs, or, as was the case two Monday Night's ago, a national television whuppin' (thanks, Matt Cassel!).

Well, if the first 10 minutes of today's get-together with the Dolphins is any indication, the proverbial wheels have fallen off the offense, too. On the third play of the game, Jay Cutler, from his own 20-yard line, was intercepted by safety Will Allen. Four plays later, Miami was up 3-0. The Broncos went four-and-out on the next drive, and 10 plays after that, the Dolphins led 6-0.

On Denver's third possession, Cutler again completed a pass to a Miami defender -- Will Allen ... again -- and this time he took it 31 yards for the touchdown.

On Thursday, Ciskie pointed out that Daunte Culpepper had decided to pull a "Favre" and unretire. Perhaps the former Vikings first-round pick drew inspiration for his decision based on the gallingly abysmal performances of Cincy's Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kansas City's Tyler Thigpen, as well as the news that Denver had placed Jay Cutler's backup, Patrick Ramsey, on injured reserve.

I think most rational people can agree that Culpepper -- even the one who limped around Miami and Oakland in recent seasons -- would be an upgrade over Fitzpatrick, Thigpen and Ramsey, but there is the whole issue of learning an entirely new offense midway through the season, not to mention any lingering concerns about Culpepper's health.

Which might explain why Denver has decided to take a pass:

Two days ago, the Broncos were 4-2, featured one of the best all-around offenses in the NFL, and were primed to take a two-game lead over the Chargers in the AFC West. All they needed to do was beat a reeling Patriots outfit. Instead, Denver got their ass handed to them, and that's putting it politely.

Yesterday, cornerback Champ Bailey suggested the Broncos' defense lacked a "sense of urgency," which is ironic since he'll be out for the next four to six weeks with a torn groin muscle. That he'll return in a month and a half is the good news coming out of Denver.

Champ's brother, linebacker Boss Bailey, is done for the season -- he needs knee surgery -- as is backup quarterback Patrick Ramsey, who briefly filled in for Jay Cutler on Monday night. Turns out, he was in there long enough to reinjure his right throwing elbow, which had bothered him since the preseason.

So now, in addition to no experienced backup behind Cutler, the Broncos' already atrocious defense just got worse: