New Orleans Saints: Patrick Ramsey’s Signing A Head Scratcher

Patrick Ramsey, a former first round pick of the Washington Redskins in 2002, has all but been guaranteed a roster spot with the defending Super Bowl champion Saints.

It has been rumored that Ramsey had a “hand shake” deal in place with the Saints brass to join the team sometime before training camp starts the 29th, this after being invited in for a work out earlier in the off-season.

Ramsey may have joined the team sooner but the rules of an uncapped year made it virtually impossible for the Saints, a play-off team, to sign any free agents until they themselves had lost one to another team.

Those restrictions expire today leaving the door open for Ramsey to join the team before the weeks end.

Ramsey will enter training camp as the fourth quarterback on the roster behind Brees, Daniel and the Saints seventh round draft choice Sean Canfield who recently signed a four year deal to remain in New Orleans through 2013.

Canfield is the least of Ramsey’s worries though as he must compete against second year man Chase Daniel for a shot at backing up Brees in 2010, no easy task to say the least.

Daniel is currently the front runner to become the primary backup and seemingly posseses all the tools to be successful in the NFL drawing favorable comparisons to pro bowler Drew Brees.

Currently the Saints are looking to add a veteran QB presence after opting not to re-sign Mark Brunell this off-season.

Brunell, allot like Ramsey, is just waiting for the same restrictions to be lifted on the Jets so that he may sign to backup Mark Sanchez.

Admittedly Ramsey’s signing with the Saints is a head scratcher because at first glance he appears to be no better than Brunell who was not brought back because it became obvious he could no longer play competitively in the NFL.

A true veteran presence he is not as he has only started two regular season games since 2005 and in fact has never completed an entire season in his career.

The 2003 season is Ramsey’s most notable when he started eleven games for the Washington Redskins becoming the most sacked quarterback (30) in the league that year.

His career statistics are even less notable throwing only five more touchdowns (35) than interceptions (30) while completing only 56 percent of his passes for a passer rating of 74.9.

Those type of numbers don’t exactly inspire confidence in the Saints fan base.

Ramsey’s impact on the team however is still yet to be seen and although he possesses a live arm has proven to be rather inaccurate through out his professional career, a trait that will not bode well for him inside the Saints precision passing system.

So barring any fluke injury to Daniel that would prevent him from becoming the backup Ramsey’s only hope is to out play the rookie Sean Canfield and ride the pine as the third quarterback on the roster.