Nick Mullens

The Raiders traded Mullens to the Vikings last August, with the quarterback serving as the primary reserve to Kirk Cousins during the 2022 season. Undrafted back in 2017, Mullens ended up appearing in four games in mop-up duty and completed 21 of 25 passes for 224 yards, one touchdown and one interception. While those are not overly impressive numbers, he demonstrated he's at least a steady hand as the backup.

Mullens has 17 career starts under his belt, but he saw action in just one game with the Browns during his fourth season in the league last year. Now with the Vikings following an August trade, Mullens will have an opportunity to compete for the team's No. 2 QB job behind starter Kirk Cousins. Also currently in the mix on that front are Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond.

Undrafted out of Southern Miss back in 2017, Mullens caught on with the 49ers and ended up making 16 starts over three seasons (2018-2020) as the backup to oft-injured Jimmy Garoppolo. While the Niners won just five of those 16 games, Mullens does have strong career numbers for completion percentage (64.5) and YPA (7.9). On the other hand, he's thrown 22 interceptions on 600 pass attempts, which is why he now finds himself competing with Joe Flacco for a backup QB job in Philadelphia. The uncertainty surrounding starter Jalen Hurts creates a path to playing time, but Mullens will lack upside even if he ends up making starts, as he doesn't offer anything on the ground (minus-16 rushing yards, zero TDs for his career).

Mullens did not attempt a pass during the regular season with Jimmy Garoppolo returning to full strength in 2019. San Francisco unconventionally kept three quarterbacks on its 53-man roster, but the 25-year-old served as the primary backup over C.J. Beathard, with the latter occupying one of the seven inactive slots on game days. Mullens showed that he could air it out a bit (284.6 yards per game) when called upon in 2018, but that came at the expense of ball protection (13 touchdowns to 10 interceptions). Consider the former undrafted free agent a poor man's Jameis Winston if he is asked to step in for Jimmy G at any point during the 2020 campaign.

Mullens quietly had his own coming-out party in the shadows of tight end George Kittle's star turn in 2018. The 23-year-old rookie went from practice squad quarterback, to one of the hottest starters down the stretch after racking up 2,277 passing yards and 13 touchdowns on 64 percent passing over the final eight games of the campaign. Mullen's aggressive downfield approach resulted in 10 interceptions over that span, but that same style earned him 8.3 YPA, which ranked fifth among all qualified NFL quarterbacks last year. As for this season, Jimmy Garoppolo is expected to come back healthy and reclaim his starting job right off the bat, leaving Mullens as the front runner in a competition for the backup job with C.J. Beathard, with the loser potentially being traded or cut before the 2019 season.