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t was a casual conversation between two backup quarterbacks passing time in the midst of another long workday. For Kansas City's Brady Quinn, the opportunity to finally enter a game as the Chiefs' starter loomed as a concussion had made Matt Cassel doubtful for last Sunday's game against Tampa Bay. The Chiefs' third-string quarterback, Ricky Stanzi, also knew he had to be prepared. If anything happened to Quinn, the team's fate would quickly fall on his shoulders.

Those possibilities were enough to keep both men focused on their preparation, but their thoughts eventually drifted to Cassel's plight. The eight-year veteran had been so vilified that some Chiefs fans actually applauded after he sustained the concussion in a home loss to Baltimore. That scene had led Chiefs right tackle Eric Winston to condemn the cheers in a heavily publicized postgame rant. A few days later, Quinn and Stanzi scoffed at all the venom being spewed at their teammate. As Quinn said, "It's not like we go to NASA and tell those guys how to put on space suits."

As much truth as there is in that sentiment, it's also hard to find many people who can relate to it in today's NFL. The quarterback is always the most visible player in any franchise, the man most responsible for how his team performs on game days. The franchise quarterback is even more superhuman in the eyes of many. And when he is struggling, the toughest challenge teams face is deciding how long they maintain their confidence in him.

It's not surprising that Cassel received such treatment at home. His overall record as Kansas City's starter is 19-25, and his 14 turnovers are a big factor in the Chiefs' 1-5 start. He's no different from the New York Jets' Mark Sanchez. Once treated as the second coming of Joe Namath -- partly because of his Hollywood looks and his status as the fifth pick in the 2009 draft -- Sanchez is completing just 49.7 percent of his passes this year. Along with having teammates rip him anonymously for being "lazy and content" last season, he's spent this year facing weekly debates about whether backup Tim Tebow should replace him.

The situations with Sanchez and Cassel are interesting not only because of the constant uproar surrounding them. Their problems also raise an intriguing question: Why do teams ultimately give up on a franchise quarterback?

"It really comes down to when the player stops improving," said NFL Network analyst Charley Casserly, who was a general manager for both the Washington Redskins and Houston Texans. "That's a hard thing to judge because there's a lot of thought that goes into picking these guys. You have a body of work that was assembled to make the selection, and egos do get involved. But if you get to the second and third year and you're still seeing the same mistakes, that's when you get concerned."

Said former Baltimore Ravens head coach and current CBS broadcaster Brian Billick, "It's a difficult thing to do because it has to be an organizational decision. You have to know there is no going back and if you're the coach, you have to know it's the end for you. You can't miss on a [franchise] quarterback. If you do, you never survive."

Cassel and Sanchez are the latest franchise quarterbacks to find themselves caught in the vicious spin cycle that so many other once-promising signal-callers know all too well. The 1999 draft was supposed to be one of the most talent-rich ever, and it gave us duds like Tim Couch, Akili Smith and Cade McNown. When Houston nabbed David Carr and Detroit took Joey Harrington in 2002, there was ample buzz in those cities until both players were ushered out of town. From there the list includes other notables like Matt Leinart, Vince Young, J.P. Losman and JaMarcus Russell. They all were supposed to do extraordinary things at the position.

Instead, their respective franchises lost faith in their futures.

"You really need the perfect [situation] if you're going to succeed as a [franchise] quarterback," said Carr, who is now a backup with the New York Giants. "You need a good offensive line, weapons around you and a playcaller who knows what you do well. If you have success early, you get time. If you don't, then your time is limited."

Kansas City's situation with Matt Cassel became much more complicated by his recent concussion. AP Photo/Colin E. Braley

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asserly said there's no definitive formula for determining when to give up on a franchise quarterback, but there are some basic criteria. The first is whether the team has a better option on the roster. The second is whether the player has hit a plateau in his development or literally regressed. Finally, timing is essential. As Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry long believed, a team should know what it has in a player once three years have passed.

That's not to say such players won't eventually succeed. It's just that their odds of doing it for that franchise drop substantially.

"It's not like in baseball where you sit a slumping player for a couple games and then bring him back," Casserly said. "Quarterback is a different position because of the leadership aspect. You have to weigh confidence. You have to know if the team has lost confidence in him or he's lost it in himself."

The only player in recent memory to overcome such a plight is San Francisco's Alex Smith. The first overall pick in the 2005 draft, he languished with the 49ers for most of his career. He dealt with injuries, multiple coordinators (seven in six years) and two head coaches who didn't know how to maximize his talents (Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary). By the time the 49ers hired head coach Jim Harbaugh last season -- and used a second-round pick on Colin Kaepernick -- the consensus was that Smith was on his way to holding a clipboard in another NFL city. Even Smith thought he was done in San Francisco.

Then a strange thing happened. Smith ran into Harbaugh before last year's lockout and they started talking football. A little while later they were out on the practice field playing catch, with Harbaugh whistling passes with the same zip he displayed during his 15-year NFL career. The coach was feeling out the quarterback. The quarterback was feeling out the coach's approach.