If Tampa Bay picks up Jay Fiedler, the thinking for Tim Rattay remains the same as it was before the Luke McCown injury. In fact, it is possible to think that Rattay might be even more available. Gruden and the coaching staff have admitted that the quarterback staff in Tampa Bay lacks experience. Even with a healthy Luke McCown, they were much less experienced than the Seahawks because Chris Simms has only started 12 games. In our case, I have been talking about our inexperience as far the backups behind Matt Hasselbeck. Tim Rattay was the most experienced QB in Tampa Bay with 16 career starts (Simms has 12 starts and McCown has 4). Rattay is currently the elder statesmen of the group and represents half of the QB starting experience on the entire roster, including Luke McCown.
Jay Fiedler met with Tampa Bay on Thursday. From all accounts, it seems like a promising development. Fiedler was a backup in Philadelphia when Gruden was the offensive coordinator, so he has some grasp of his system and the complex terminology Gruden employs. There has been some talk that Rattay does not have a good grasp of the system and also that he plays harder than he practices. These may both be reasons we would not want him in Seattle as well, but it could just be a terminology thing with Gruden as his play calls are extremely long-winded and confusing. It seems unlikely Rattay would be having trouble with the West Coast offense because he ran a version of it in San Francisco and came up learning behind Jeff Garcia.
Fiedler solves the Tampa Bay experience issue, as he has started 60 games in his career. This would give Tampa Bay a safety net for young Chris Simms. Tampa Bay could take Simms, Fiedler, rookie Bruce Gradkowski and second-year player Jared Allen into training camp. Jon Gruden has to feel better about the experience of this group than his current situation (even with a healthy McCown). They would also still have Luke McCown; possibly on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list and able to comeback after week 6. Fiedler gives Gruden an experienced veteran to fall back on while he further develops Chris Simms and brings up rookie Bruce Gradkowski. In that scenario, Tim Rattay does not fit in at all, especially with his $1.25 million salary. We would still need to offer a late-round pick for Rattay because Tampa Bay could just keep him on the roster through camp and then cut him, and we need him ASAP to bring him up to speed in our offense. So, a Fiedler signing makes Rattay a possibility, but keep in mind it would require a contract renogiation (we are not going to pay him $1.25 million for 1-year and then let him become an unrestricted free agent next year). Also, it is hard to say what Ruston Webster's opinion of Rattay is right now. He liked him enough to bring him to Tampa Bay, but his opinion could have changed from what he saw of him there. We really have no way of knowing how he feels about him at this point.
Rattay lacks the experience to be the veteran backup (#2) Jon Gruden is looking for with only other young quarterbacks on the roster. However, in Seattle, Rattay has the experience to bolster our backup quarterback situation and could fill the exact role the Seahawks need. The needs behind someone like Chris Simms obviously differ from the needs behind Matt Hasselbeck. Gruden really needs someone to help mentor the young quarterbacks, while we need someone that can just play in an injury situation.
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