It started innocently enough, with the Philadelphia Eagles releasing former Notre Dame standout Ron Powlus on Friday afternoon, and from there picked up plenty of steam.

By the time the Kansas City Chiefs released journeyman Bubby Brister on Monday, just a few hours after acquiring Joe Germaine from the St. Louis Rams, the NFL quarterback carousel had spun wildly out of control for nearly three full days. And with the calliope still playing in the background, the only certainty seemed that this high-stakes game of quarterback musical chairs probably hadn't sounded its last note yet.

In less than 72 hours, 14 quarterbacks were involved in no fewer than 16 transactions. Three teams changed their primary backups and another, the Carolina Panthers, settled on its starter for Sunday's season-opening contest. As of Monday afternoon, 10 quarterbacks were still looking for jobs, including one who had been a starter only a week ago.

For fifth-year quarterback Jeff Lewis, drafted by Denver in 1996 as the heir apparent to John Elway and as recently as 11 days ago still atop the Carolina Panthers' depth chart, the fall from grace and into the unemployment line bordered on the unthinkable.

"Just sitting back and watching it all unfold, it was a pretty mind-boggling thing," said Carolina personnel director Jack Bushofsky, whose team officially anointed Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke over Lewis as its starter. "It really shook up (quarterback) depth charts around the league. I'm still trying to figure out where some guys are now."

General managers league-wide would be wise to chart the movement in pencil, not pen, since some clubs aren't done tinkering at the quarterback position. Monday afternoon, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns were among the teams still perusing the list of potential acquisitions.

Where several veteran quarterbacks might be -- players like Eric Zeier (Atlanta), Rodney Peete (Oakland), Billy Joe Hobert (Indianapolis), Kent Graham (Pittsburgh) and Jim Harbaugh (Detroit), among others -- is on the outside looking in at this week's kickoff games. All the above, and a few more of the quarterbacks who are suddenly unattached now, are vested veterans.

That means those quarterbacks have at least four accrued years toward the NFL pension plan, which is the good news. The bad news is that, because these players are vested, a team must pay them their entire 2001 base salary if they are on the roster opening day. So some clubs may wait until next week, the second week of the season, before contacting any of the unemployed veterans.

Few teams want to risk bringing in a veteran quarterback now, one who will need a cram course in the offense anyway, and then perhaps having him get hurt in practice this week and then being accountable for a full season's salary.

"That's a factor, not just at the quarterback spot, but every position," said Ken Kremer, the agent for Graham and Peete. "But it's especially true at quarterback, because even a veteran guy might need a week or two to assimilate the offense."

The quarterback carousel, termed by one AFC general manager as the "most maddening" set of maneuvers he had ever witnessed at the position in such a short period of time, was yet another reflection of the minimalization of the position. And it also emphasized just how significant the salary cap has become in determining the makeup of a club's roster.

In five of the weekend moves, teams replaced their incumbent No. 2 quarterback with a backup who carried a smaller salary-cap number. The Pittsburgh Steelers, for instance, dumped Graham, who carried a $1.4 million cap charge. The aggregate salary cap total for the Steelers backups Tommy Maddox and Tee Martin, by comparison, is $782,000. Or essentially, two for the price of one.

Having determined that first overall choice Michael Vick was sufficiently prepared for the No. 2 job behind Chris Chandler, the Atlanta Falcons were then left to choose from Zeier or second-year pro Doug Johnson for the third job. Both skill and finances played a part in the decision, with Johnson owning a significantly stronger arm as well as a smaller price tag, $305,500 compared to $850,000 for Zeier.

"There are a lot of factors, but the overriding one is that you want to make sure you have a No. 2 guy with whom you're comfortable," said Rams coach Mike Martz, who dealt Germaine to the Chiefs and then quickly signed free agent Jamie Martin, released by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday afternoon.

For the Panthers, who over the past week enacted one of the more dizzying quarterback switches in recent history, a comfort zone was critical, too, at the starting spot. Lewis, who had done little in two years as the backup to Steve Beuerlein, didn't do a whole lot more when provided the opportunity to win the starting job in camp. Several Panthers veterans and front-office types acknowledged to ESPN.com in camp that Weinke had an air of confidence about him which Lewis sorely lacked.

After not even getting off the bench in the preseason finale, Lewis termed his situation as crazy, but credit the Panthers for not compounding a mistake by keeping him around just to save face. Carolina dealt for Lewis in 1999, despite the fact he missed the entire 1998 season because of severe knee injury sustained in a pickup basketball game, and most teams felt they had erred in making a deal that cost the Panthers a pair of draft choices.

Two years later, when it was obvious Carolina had wasted the third- and fourth-round picks, the team bit the bullet on Lewis, who could have trouble landing a spot on an NFL roster, even as a No. 3 quarterback. Better to admit a mistake, Carolina officials allowed, than to exacerbate it by trying to prove yourself right when it's obvious you were wrong.

Weinke, who was officially named the regular-season starter on Monday afternoon, has a five-year contract that can balloon to as much as $20 million if he reaches a number of predetermined performance levels. He'll start earning the extra cash in Sunday's opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

But having witnessed the quarterback carnage that transpired over the weekend, Weinke, the 29-year-old rookie who thought he had seen it all, is taking nothing for granted. Smart kid, it seems, given the events of the past three days.

"Let's just say that, the way things are going, I won't relax until I'm actually out there with the first-unit huddle on Sunday afternoon," he said.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.