There hasn’t been much NFL news lately. That is, if you don’t include players getting arrested, players getting investigated, players getting suspended, etc. Yep, it’s been a slow few weeks.

I did see something on ESPN.com that intrigued me — Vinny Testaverde is going to re-sign with the Patriots. Testaverde was drafted in 1987 by Tampa Bay, with the No. 1 pick, and 20 years later, is amazingly still in the league. Yes, he’s going to be Tom Brady’s backup, but it’s a testament to Vinny’s expperience that he’s endured.

With that in mind, I reviewed the drafts since then and found that 17 first-round quarterbacks since 1987 are no longer in the league. Those 17 can be broken down into the following categories:

Achieved stardom: Troy Aikman, Drew Bledsoe

Solid careers: Jim Harbaugh, Jeff George (when he was healthy), Chris Miller

Barely below average: Tommy Maddox, Rick Mirer, Tim Couch (OK, I’m being nice here)

Unmitigated busts: Kelly Stouffer, Andrew Ware, Dan McGwire, Todd Marinovich, David Klingler, Heath Shuler, Jim Druckenmiller, Ryan Leaf, Cade McNown

That’s a lot of busts. But none of these 17 have this one word in common with Testaverde — active.