Kevin Kolb Should Serve as Cautionary Tale for Teams Interested in Matt Flynn

After his phenomenal 480-yard, six-touchdown performance in Week 17 against the Detroit Lions, everyone is abuzz about the future home of Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn. While I know it's nice for the 26-year-old Flynn to be getting so much attention, teams should be wary of giving up too much in return for his services.

This past offseason the hot name on the quarterback market was Philadelphia Eagles backup Kevin Kolb. The Arizona Cardinals gave up starting cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round pick in the 2012 NFL draft to get Kolb, then signed him to a six-year, $65 million contract. Everyone in Arizona seemed excited about the possibility of pairing Kolb with Pro Bowl wideout Larry Fitzgerald in 2011. 

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this past season was an absolute disaster for Kolb. The 27-year-old battled injuries, but even when healthy he wasn't worth the money Arizona spent on him. He completed 146 of 253 passes (57.7 percent) for 1,955 yards, with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. His quarterback rating of 81.1 was certainly not worthy of his contract. 

Arizona's experience with Kolb this season proved that being a success as a backup quarterback and being a success as a starting quarterback are wildly different things. Flynn has never had the pressure of being "the" guy for a team. He has never consistently had to prepare as if he was going to be starting every week. 

In addition to that, he has never had expectations heaped upon him, since even when he has played there has been virtually no pressure for him to succeed. 

I like Flynn and think he may end up eventually being a solid NFL quarterback, but those expecting him to step in right away for their team and be successful should look at what happened to Kolb in Arizona this year.

Then take a deep breath, step back and dial down the expectations.