Testaverde comes aboard
FOXBOROUGH -- The Patriots signed 43-year-old quarterback Vinny Testaverde yesterday, and coach Bill Belichick said the move has nothing to do with the health of starting quarterback Tom Brady or backup Matt Cassel.
"Fortunately, both of them are healthy and we're happy with both of them," Belichick said, indicating that Testaverde will be the third quarterback.
"This is something we wanted to do for some time, but we were caught in some roster situations with other positions," Belichick said. "We were looking at it a while back but had a lot of other needs and were skating on a little bit of thin ice."
Belichick dismissed the notion that Testaverde was brought in simply to be a veteran mentor, saying the move isn't a "commentary on any quarterback, coaching, or anything along those lines."
"I think the most important thing is that if he has to play, Vinny has a lot of experience, and I think in an emergency he can run our offense without many [repetitions]," Belichick said. "If you have an emergency, I think he'd be able to go in there and be able to run the team in that third spot."
Because the team has carried only two quarterbacks, Belichick said, he needed to consider how quickly he could get an emergency option up to speed.
"When you have an insurance policy, you can't bring a guy in one week and expect him to learn the terminology that quickly -- you have to make the move ahead of time," Belichick said.
This marks Testaverde's 20th NFL season, and the Patriots are his sixth team, following Tampa Bay (1987-92), Cleveland (1993-95), Baltimore (1996-97), the New York Jets (1998-2003, 2005) and Dallas (2004). Testaverde, who turned 43 Monday, ranks in the top 10 in NFL history in four major categories: sixth in passing yards (45,252) and completions (3,691), eighth in touchdown passes (269), and seventh in attempts (6,526).
Last season, he played in six games with four starts for the Jets after being signed during the season.
"He has all the physical talent in the world -- he's big, athletic, can make every throw, he's strong in the pocket, and has been pretty durable throughout the course of his career," Belichick said. "He's level headed, cool, not a high-strung guy, and has a lot of composure even in tough situations. I think those things are all positive, and he's played in this system. We've seen him run it and know that he can do it."
The Patriots, who had Testaverde in for a visit Sept. 26, have employed a veteran backup quarterback in each of Belichick's first six seasons: John Friesz (2000), Damon Huard (2001-03), Jim Miller (2004), and Doug Flutie (2005).
