TwinTurbo said:
Pryor seems like a great fit for the Hawks for a backup/3rd QB. He's young with some upside and his contract is cheap. The reality is most backup QBs suck (see Tavaris Jackson) and most teams are screwed if their starter goes down. Some teams don't even have a legit QB1. So it really doesn't make sense to invest a ton of money in a backup QB from a salary cap standpoint, especially if you are a contender.
Did you mean does make sense?
It does not make sense to pay Tarvaris Jackson $1.25 million this season when Pryor only costs $700k. Russell will actually be paid less than both in 2014 on his rookie deal.
In general, I think it is not a good investment to tie up an above average salary for a backup QB, unless your QB1 is a fringe starter. Looking across the board at all teams, it seems the sweet spot would be $500k - $800k for the backup QB. And if you have a guy that costs more, chances are he's no better or worse than the cheaper group.
Look at Kyle Orton. He's one of the highest paid backups in the league and it did Dallas no good last year when they needed him most. I think Matt Moore is the highest paid backup QB in the league at $4M per year. No thanks.