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I seriously doubt the Ravens keep three quarterbacks on the roster. That means that either Matt Schaub or Bryn Renner will take a seat behind ironman quarterback Joe Flacco. Almost everyone has expected that Schaub would be the guy to hold the clipboard, but Renner is making that decision a little harder.
You know Renner for his great two-minute drill against the Saints where he ran the ball in for a score with seconds left on the clock to beat the new Orleans Saints at home. Before that Renner was the quarterback for the University of North Carolina.
After sitting as a redshirt freshman, Renner got his chance to shine as a sophomore. He originally was behind current FNL quarterback T.J. Yates before becoming the starter. In his very first game, Renner set North Carolina and Atlantic Coast Conference records for accuracy after going 22 of 23. The young quarterback even earned an honorable mention for All-ACC in 2012. For his entire college career, Renner has posted up a 151.2 quarterback rating. So while most fans would think he is a scrub, he certainly took care of business as an amateur athlete.
Undrafted due to a shoulder injury, Renner signed with the Denver Broncos as a rookie free agent but was waived before the start of the season and found his way in the Arena Football League before the Ravens picked him up.
With Schaub not exactly looking great during camp, Renner has found a small but vocal support to be the guy behind Flacco and it actually makes sense. The Ravens are locked in to paying Schaub his full contract for the single year they have him, $1 million salary with a $1 million signing bonus, regardless if he plays a snap for the Ravens or not.
The biggest issue there is that Schaub is only signed for a single year and the Ravens will be back on the hunt for a backup quarterback come the end of the season. With Renner, they have a quarterback that is also signed for only a single season, but is currently making $435,000 for 2015. A three-year deal for Renner wouldn't set the Ravens back very much at all, which will be needed next season as the Ravens will want to rework Joe Flacco's deal.
The Ravens also get to grow Renner a little more and mold him into the type of quarterback they are looking for rather than deal with the baggage that comes with Schaub's 12 year career. The Ravens are lucky in the fact that Flacco has yet to miss a game and has been relatively healthy throughout his career, so the need for a backup quarterback isn't as great as it is for the Bills, Browns, Jets and other teams still looking for their signal caller.
By keeping Renner over Schaub, they get a quarterback that fits the scheme just as well, for cheaper, and for longer term if they wish. Meanwhile, there are more than enough teams out there that would love to have Schaub compete for a starter job (cough cough Cleveland, Bills and Jets, cough) that the Ravens could actually trade the former starter for a fifth round pick and come out ahead on the deal.
If Renner can show up again in this week's preseason game and Schaub falters a little, there might be an argument being made for Renner over Schaub for real.