Paxton Lynch is heading to the CFL. The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced today that they’ve signed the former NFL quarterback.
It was only five years ago that the Broncos selected the Memphis product in the first round of the 2016 draft (No. 26). When Lynch managed to see the field for Denver, his performance was underwhelming. In five games (four starts) between two seasons, Lynch completed 61.7-percent of his passes for 792 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions. The quarterback was ultimately cut by the Broncos at the beginning of the 2018 campaign.
Lynch hasn’t seen the field for a regular season NFL game since that time. He’s had stints with the Seahawks and Steelers, and he spent most of the 2019 campaign on Pittsburgh’s active roster. After getting cut by the Steelers at the end of last year’s preseason, Lynch sat unsigned for the entire 2020 campaign.
In Saskatchewan, Lynch will be joining a quarterbacks room that includes former Jets quarterback Luke Falk.
Lynch may not have impressed, he didn’t get much help, either. The Broncos’ offensive staff was not very productive and switched quarterbacks frequently, and Lynch himself was injured a few times that cut into his playing opportunities. Denver still hasn’t had consistency since he left either, so I would hesitate to put all of Lynch’s failure on him alone.
Lynch should have been drafted later, as he had almost no experience working under center or in a pro style offense. When I watched him, I did not get the impression that Lynch was really that bad, or really that good. He was just sort of there. The start he got against Mahomes ended pretty evenly between the two, and KC won by a field goal. Denver was not the place to develop him, and it hasn’t had much success doing so with other quarterbacks either.
He’s in the CFL, that should tell you he’s just not good.
Yeah, every player in the CFL is abjectly horrible. Either way, that’s not my point. My point is that Lynch never really got a chance to be anything but a bust. Questionable coaching staff, limited playing time, and untimely injuries sealed his fate. If you watched his last start, where he outplayed Mahomes, you can see that he was not as abjectly irredeemable as we judge him to be. I consider him a bust, I also know that he didn’t get a good chance to be anything else.
Good point. People are quick to label guys as busts with no consideration for the conditions around them that interferes with their progress. You’d like to think that talent is talent and comes out. What if Favre never got dealt to Green Bay? What if Aaron Rodgers didn’t sit on the shelf so many years developing and instead got drafted by a team like Cleveland who threw him out there right away with no line, no backs and no receivers with a coaching staff and front office constantly in flux? Would he have flamed out quickly like a Brady Quinn? Would Quinn have developed better sitting on the bench 3 years? Teams used to groom these guys now they want an instant return on their investment, Lynch was not that guy but with some seasoning he would have been much more serviceable.
You are right. He never got a chance. His numbers weren’t great, but they weren’t bad, either.
A swing & a miss by John!
This is what a QB does when he truly wants a chance to kickstart his career. Hope he finds his game and returns to the NFL.
Slightly different than Johnny Manziel literally being kicked out of the league!
Not sure Lynch has a style that adapts well to the Canadian game. Tyrod Taylor is an NFL backup that could probably thrive in the CFL though.
Is every team in the CFL still named the Rough Riders?
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Rough Riders sounds much better than WFT.
PL was 14 for 16 in his last preseason game.
Elway hated that Lynch feared Jesus Christ, said the Lord’s prayer aloud before every meal in any setting, and especially despised that PL didn’t drink whiskey and chase skanks (like 7).
Wow. Winner of today’s “Loser Take.”