Gardy and the GM do that all the time. It had more to do with service clock and the veteran SS in front of Bartlett. Now Bartlett is the Veteran, doesn't matter if he can do anything or not, there isn't anyone behind him anyways.
I like the Samardzija idea, he and Mauer could throw around the pigskin on off days as well. I think we would have to up the offer a tish to get that done.