Few quarterbacks in the National Football League can match Matt Hasselbeck's consistent production, and few quarterbacks will be available during the 2011 NFL free agency period. Consequently, Hasselbeck may be the premier signal-caller among 2011 NFL free agents, once the lockout officially ends.
Hasselbeck has been the Seattle Seahawks' starting quarterback since 2003, and helped guide the Seahawks to Super Bowl 40 in 2006. He has thrown for 3,000 yards in every season in which he has started 14 or more games, but has been hampered by injury in recent years. Since 2008, Hasselbeck has made 35 of 48 starts, and he was replaced late in the Seahawks' 2010 playoff push by Charlie Whitehurst, seen by many as Seattle's eventual Hasselbeck replacement.
Hasselbeck could still be a veteran leader for a team in search of one. So rumors linking Hasselbeck to the Tennessee Titans make sense: Hasselbeck could give Tennessee a reliable baseline the Titans didn't have during the tumultuous Vince Young era.
Other teams with holes at quarterback that might consider Hasselbeck include the Seahawks' NFC West rivals, the Arizona Cardinals, and ... his own Seattle Seahawks, if Pete Carroll's regime decides bringing back Hasselbeck to compete with Whitehurst is worth doing.
For more on Hasselbeck and NFL free agency, check this StoryStream. For more on the Seahawks, visit SB Nation Seattle and Field Gulls.