New Orleans saints sign veteran QB Joey Harrington as “Insurance Policy”

One of the few teams who entered the NFL regular season with only two QB’s on their roster, the New Orleans Saints addressed that precarious roster situation on Friday by signing veteran Joey Harrington as their third string signal caller.

The Saints entered training camp with three QBs, but cut Tyler Palko before the start of the season.  Had it become necessary, wide receiver and special teams player Terrance Copper would have been the emergency third QB.  Now Copper is injured with a pulled hamstring and won’t play this weekend.  Apparently acquiescing to the reality that a 3rd QB is a necessity in today’s NFL, the Saints took the opportunity to make the deal with Harrington.

A product of the University of Oregon, Harrington was drafted third overall by Detroit in 2002.  He took a large part of the blame for the Lions’ mediocrity during his tenure, though much of that was due in reality to front office ineptitude.  He played for the Dolphins in 2006 and Atlanta last year.  He played fairly well for the Falcons last year, a team in desperate need of stability at the position.   He also displayed consummate class and professionalism, a couple of traits in short supply in Atlanta of late.

Those qualities were on display in his reaction to the announcement of his signing by the Saints:

When I say it's going to be a great fit, I think it's in all areas. You've got the weapons, so you're going to win some games. You've got a great coach who knows how to use them and you've got two great quarterbacks here. ... That's the biggest thing for me now is just to take a step back, get my feet under me and learn the best that I can. See what it's like to be on a team that wins some games.

He continued by expressing his respect for starting QB Brees and enthusiasm about joining his new team:

I've obviously had a few bumps along the way. Some mistakes I made and some I couldn't control. They've all been learning situations. I think here it gives me the chance to learn from somebody who's done it well in Drew the last four or five years. I was hoping for a situation like this. So I couldn't be happier.

Harrington will assume his spot as the #3 QB on the Saints behind starter Drew Brees and another veteran signal caller in Mark Brunell.