Aaron Rodgers? Sam Darnold? Russell Wilson? Identifying starters for 11 QB-needy teams

2024 primary starter: Deshaun Watson
2025 proposal: Draft Cam Ward with the No. 2 overall pick

The Watson trade and contract has been so costly, so bad for the Browns — perhaps the worst pair of transactions in NFL history — that they’ve likely reached the conclusion that the Watson era is over years before it officially ends. (Their books say they’re still stuck with him for two more years and $92 million in guaranteed money.)

After appearing in just 19 games over the past three seasons, and performing poorly in nearly all of them, he might be sidelined for all of 2025 after recently rupturing the Achilles that he tore back in October. That gives general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski the latitude to turn the page in the QB room.

And by holding the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, their choice should be obvious: They can take one of the two best quarterbacks available. If the Titans take Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders first overall, the Browns can select the University of Miami’s Ward.

The 6-foot-2, 223-pound Ward is either the best or second-best QB in a very thin class, according to most scouts and NFL executives. He’s got the necessary size, arm and the ability to create out of the pocket. He could probably step right into a starting role, though it might be a bumpy, early ride.

Maybe the Browns will sign a veteran to be a placeholder for Ward — someone like Jacoby Brissett, Drew Lock, or perhaps even Jameis Winston again — since they can’t count on Watson to be healthy. But Ward is going to be their quarterback of the future. Whether he starts right away might depend on who else they bring in this offseason, although they don’t have the cap space to sign one of the better bridge QBs.

One way or another, they are ready to move on from Watson. — Vacchiano

2024 primary starter: Anthony Richardson
2025 proposal: Keep Richardson and sign Daniel Jones

Both head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard are on the hot seat and in win-now mode. The good news is, the AFC South has continually proven to be a winnable division, even for middling teams. The bad news is, their tenuous status might prevent owner Jim Irsay from allowing Steichen and Ballard to pivot from Richardson after they selected him with the No. 4 overall pick just two years ago. Here’s guessing the three of them will be forced to deliver this year — together. 

Richardson might have demonstrated enough flashes in his two seasons to compel the Colts to run it back next season and find out if he’s worth holding onto. Had he been healthier, they might already have their answer. He instead has just 15 starts under his belt, which leaves room for hope that he can grow but also raises concern about his 50.6 completion percentage and 11-13 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

The Colts will want some insurance. While they could look to the draft, a better use of their resources would be to bring in a mid-tier veteran. Enter Jones, who will be available at a reasonable price after flaming out with the Giants (and finishing the season with the Vikings). At 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, Jones offers some of Richardson’s athletic upside and could presumably step into action without requiring the system to be revamped. (He’s a much more natural fill-in than Joe Flacco was this past season.)

Richardson will likely remain the priority in Indianapolis, though. And if that doesn’t work out in 2025, the Colts will be facing another major overhaul. — Williams

2024 primary starter: Gardner Minshew
2025 proposal: Trade for Geno Smith and draft Quinn Ewers

With Tom Brady in the fold as a minority owner, the Raiders elected to hit the reset button in firing head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco. Las Vegas has been a mess at quarterback since moving on from Derek Carr in 2022, cycling through Jarrett Stidham, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer, Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew and Desmond Ridder.

Holding the No. 6 overall pick in what might be a two-QB draft will likely force the Raiders to be aggressive in free agency. It’s impossible to project with any certainty who they’d be interested in until their coaching and GM vacancies are filled, but there’s a world in which Smith would make a lot of sense, especially if Pete Carroll lands the job in Vegas. Smith, of course, resurrected his career during his two seasons with Carroll, earning two Pro Bowl nods while guiding the Seahawks to a winning record each year.

In this scenario, the Raiders can use a Day 3 pick to acquire Smith from Seattle and restructure his deal so that he’s on board for more than one year. Las Vegas has the second-most salary cap space in the league at $92.5 million, according to Over the Cap. After striking out with a series of bridge options the past two years, Smith could bring some stability to an organization that needs it at every corner. 

The 34-year-old’s presence would also enable the Raiders to draft a developmental prospect who could eventually take the reins. They can use the No. 56 overall pick to get Ewers, and they have nine other selections to continue building up this deficient roster until they figure out on a long-term answer at QB. — Williams

2024 primary starter: Matthew Stafford
2025 proposal: Sign Kirk Cousins and Jimmy Garoppolo

Though he’s still playing elite football, Stafford doesn’t have any guaranteed money beyond this season and, at 37 years old, has mulled the possibility of retiring the last few years due to nagging injuries. In this scenario, Stafford finally hangs up his cleats, while Cousins emerges as a low-cost option in free agency (à la Russell Wilson last year) as the Falcons turn to Michael Penix.

We know Cousins can succeed in the Rams’ offense. Prior to getting injured, he was playing the best ball of his career in 2023 under Sean McVay protégé Kevin O’Connell. The Rams then bring back Jimmy Garoppolo, giving Sean McVay two competent quarterbacks who are comfortable running his scheme. 

McVay has shown the ability to get the most out of veteran quarterbacks. He reached the Super Bowl with Jared Goff, helped with the reclamation project of Baker Mayfield before he signed with Tampa Bay and had Carson Wentz on his roster last season before he signed on as the backup for Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. 

The Rams have playmakers on offense in receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, along with running back Kyren Williams and tight end Tyler Higbee. And under the direction of new defensive coordinator Chris Shula, Los Angeles successfully transitioned from life without Aaron Donald by drafting playmakers in defensive tackles Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske, edge rushers Byron Young and Jared Verse, along with safety Kamren Kinchens over the last two drafts.

Cousins is a short-term solution, of course. But with an opportunistic defense, a solid offensive line and playmakers on offense, the Rams are built to contend so long as they get good QB play. Perhaps they can with Cousins, if he’s fully recovered from his Achilles tendon issue by next fall. — Williams

2024 primary starter: Sam Darnold
2025 proposal: Re-sign Darnold and keep J.J. McCarthy

Prior to the turn of the calendar year, the Vikings’ quarterback plans seemed pretty obvious. Darnold led them to 14 wins, and teams don’t just give away quarterbacks capable of that. It seemed pretty certain that the Vikings would either sign him to a lucrative, short-term contract or use the franchise tag on him. They could also keep McCarthy, the quarterback of the future who they drafted 10th overall last April, knowing that his time would come eventually. (And if they were really high on Darnold, they could broker a trade for McCarthy, which might have been tempting since they own just one pick before the fifth round of the 2025 draft.)

But the past two weeks have called a lot of that into question. In the two most important games of his career — in Detroit with the NFC’s top seed on the line, and against the Rams in the wild-card round — Darnold was just terrible. He completed 53.1% of his passes for just 411 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and was sacked 11 times (often for holding the ball too long).

Now, the Vikings have a tougher choice. McCarthy might not be healthy enough to start next season, and it’s possible even if he is, he might not be ready for the job. They likely still need a veteran to complement him, and despite the past two weeks, Darnold might still be their best bet.

The silver lining for Minnesota is that Darnold’s struggles will make retaining him considerably cheaper and perhaps easier. He might not get any lucrative offers on the free-agent market. He was good this year, but he also showed he can’t yet be trusted in big situations. Nobody’s going to guarantee a quarterback like that $100 million.

The plan here is to sign him for considerably less — a shorter-term deal or just something the Vikings can get out of after a year. He’s still the quarterback who played at a near-MVP level for most of the regular season. If he does that again in 2025, it’s good for everyone. If not, Minnesota still has McCarthy waiting in the wings. — Vacchiano

2024 primary starter: Derek Carr
2025 proposal: Keep Carr and draft Jalen Milroe

Carr has two years remaining on a four-year, $150 million contract he signed before the 2023 season. He’s set to make $40 million for the upcoming season and count $51.45 million against the salary cap.

The Saints are about $50 million over the cap in 2025 — easily the most in the NFL — so expect them to restructure Carr’s contract to obtain some cap relief. 

Carr, who turns 34 in March, opened this past season on fire, completing 30-of-39 for 442 yards, with five touchdowns and just one interception for a league-leading 142.4 passer rating over the first two games. Then he cooled off. Then he got hurt, missing a total of seven games because of a strained oblique and fractures in his non-throwing hand. New Orleans went 0-7 with Carr sidelined and 5-5 with him on the field — he completed 67.7% of his passes for 2,145 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions.

As the Saints search for a new head coach, they might be eyeing someone who is open to working with Carr for at least another season. He showed that he’s good enough to help New Orleans contend for a division crown in a weak NFC South, so long as he’s surrounded with enough talent on offense and buoyed by a strong defense. Neither Spencer Rattler nor Jake Haener are viable options as the primary starter.

The Saints should keep taking swings in the draft, however, and Milroe could be had with one of their three Day 2 selections.  The Alabama product is a strong-armed, athletic prospect who could learn the ropes behind the experienced Carr and perhaps grow into the club’s future starter. — Williams

2024 primary starter: Daniel Jones
2025 proposal: Sign Russell Wilson

The Giants really blew it by beating the Colts in Week 17, which cost them the No. 1 pick in the draft and the young quarterback of their choice. Instead, they slipped to No. 3, which might be too low to get one of the top two quarterbacks and too high to pick a third option.

That leaves them searching for a veteran, which won’t be as easy as it sounds. Any veteran with options is going to see a team that’s been a mess for a decade, an offensive line that’s dangerously bad, and a head coach on the hot seat. The Giants will probably pursue Kirk Cousins if he’s cut by Atlanta, or available in an affordable trade. But they don’t have a lot of tradeable assets and can’t afford to give up any draft picks for short-term solutions. And if Cousins does become a free agent, he’ll surely find better options than this.

Wilson, though, has long had an interest in playing in New York and even paid a visit to the Giants at the start of free agency last March. While he’s not a long-term option, and certainly hasn’t played like he’s in his prime anymore, the 36-year-old could bring some consistency to the position for the Giants — something they haven’t had in a while.

Don’t underestimate how important that would be for head coach Brian Daboll and even GM Joe Schoen, both of whom likely need to win in 2025 to hold onto their jobs. Wilson isn’t going to lead New York on a title run, but he could at least help the club be competitive, which right now is a huge step up. It might even be enough to save Daboll and Schoen from being fired and buy them time to find a younger quarterback to start building around. — Vacchiano

2024 primary starter: Aaron Rodgers
2025 proposal: Sign Mac Jones and draft Jaxson Dart

As always, the Jets are in a difficult position, because as much of a pain in the butt as Rodgers has been, he might prove to be their best option for 2025. He’s 41 and, at times, he played like he was 51 last season. But look at his final numbers: they weren’t all bad.

That said, it seems pretty clear that owner Woody Johnson — who tried to have him benched early in the season — is done with Rodgers, his controversies and his demands. And it’s hard to see a new GM and coach want to bring Rodgers back and then let him pick his offensive coaches and some of his teammates like he was allowed to do in the past. The best move for the future of the franchise is to have a clean break and let Rodgers go back into the darkness.

But where does that leave the Jets? Since they pick No. 7 overall, they likely wouldn’t end up with a rookie quarterback who would be ready to start the season. But they do need to grab one in this draft to start that process. That could have them reaching for the third quarterback on the board — like Ole Miss’ Dart.

They’d still need a veteran starter, though. They really liked Derek Carr back when they signed Rodgers. But if the Saints keep him, New York’s options could be limited. And while it’s hard to know who the new regime would prefer, Jones would at least be a decent, cheap, one-year option until Dart is ready. 

That won’t thrill the always-angry, disillusioned and defeated Jets fan base. But Jones played well late in the season in an awful situation in Jacksonville, filling in for the injured Trevor Lawrence. He’s still a former first-round pick, and he showed signs that, with good coaching, there’s still talent there. So he could be a good stop-gap guy for a team that needs to start over with young arms. — Vacchiano

2024 primary starter: Russell Wilson
2025 proposal: Sign Aaron Rodgers

For a while there, it looked like Wilson had found a permanent, late-career home in the Steel City. But his late-season fade surely has the Steelers rethinking that. While they would probably like to keep Justin Fields, he might be eager to try his hand elsewhere following his early-season benching.

The Steelers still won 10 games this season and can always be counted on to field a playoff-caliber roster. So, if Rodgers can wiggle his way out of the darkness of the Jets organization, this could be a perfect place for him to finish his career on a better note. Pittsburgh has a strong cast of players on offense, an excellent head coach in Mike Tomlin and, if he doesn’t land an HC job elsewhere, a respected offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith.

Maybe Rodgers could come as a package deal with his No. 1 receiver and best bud, Davante Adams, which would fill one of the Steelers’ biggest needs. But outside of that, they’re not likely to tolerate the other kind of demands he made in New York that grounded the Jets. That should be fine, though, because Rodgers not only wants to win, he also needs to restore his reputation. This could be the perfect situation for him to do both.

This wouldn’t be more than a two-year arrangement, and maybe just one. The Steelers would also have to find a decent backup because Rodgers was pretty beat up last season and … well, he’s pretty old. But if they can keep him healthy, and convince him not to go on TV every week to complain about things, the pairing could be a win-win. — Vacchiano 

2024 primary starter: Geno Smith
2025 proposal: Trade Smith, sign Justin Fields and draft Riley Leonard

The Seahawks could be ready to move on from Smith. Mike Macdonald wants to build a balanced offense that leans more on the running game to complement his defense, like he had in Baltimore. In Fields, he finds a quarterback with dynamic running ability (as was also the case in Baltimore with Lamar Jackson).

Smith has a year left on his contract that pays him $31 million in non-guaranteed salary. He understandably wants a new deal. Although Macdonald publicly supported Smith’s return, I wouldn’t be surprised if Seattle parted ways with Smith — either through trade or outright release — and went with cheaper alternatives. 

Similar to when he orchestrated a three-man competition in 2012 with Russell Wilson, Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson, general manager John Schneider could give Macdonald a couple bites at the apple in fortifying the quarterback position by signing Fields and selecting Leonard in the draft to compete with Sam Howell, who’s already on the roster. 

Howell is just 24 years old and has 18 NFL starts, but he struggled in spot duty last season for the Seahawks. It’s reasonable to question if the Seahawks will draft a quarterback high in the draft, if at all. The Seahawks have drafted just two signal-callers during Schneider’s 15 years as head of the personnel department: Wilson in the third round in 2012 and Alex McGough in the seventh round in 2018. But I like the fit with Leonard, in part because he’s been compared to Josh Allen. I remember Schneider attending Allen’s pro day at Wyoming and really liking him coming out of college.

At the top of the list for the Seahawks and Macdonald will be finding an offensive coordinator who can make their offense come to life. That candidate will likely be part of the Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan offensive coaching scheme. Fields ran for a near-record 1,143 yards during the 2022 season with the Bears under offensive coordinator Luke Getsy (a Matt LaFleur disciple), and he was 4-2 as a starter this past year with Pittsburgh before being replaced by Wilson. The jury is still out on whether he can be a quality starter in the league. — Williams

2024 primary starter: Will Levis
2025 proposal: Draft Shedeur Sanders No. 1 overall

Former Titans general manager Ran Carthon selected Levis as the team’s quarterback of the future in the second round of the 2023 draft. That pick was a poor choice, as Levis hasn’t shown command of the offense and consistently turned the football over (16 interceptions in 21 starts), eventually costing Carthon his job.

Levis still has two years left on his rookie deal and is the only quarterback under contract for 2025. Backups Mason Rudolph and Trevor Siemian will become free agents in March. The Titans have a projected $44.1 million in cap space for the upcoming season, according to Over the Cap, so they could add a veteran signal caller to the quarterback room as competition for Levis. 

However, with the No. 1 overall selection in this year’s draft, second-year coach Brian Callahan gets a chance to start over at the quarterback position with Sanders, who’s considered the top QB prospect in a weak 2025 class. 

At 6-2 and 210 pounds, Sanders is accurate, plays with poise and should offer a strong leader to build around for the Titans. He led college football with a 74.1% completion rate, he plays with anticipation, and he has enough mobility to navigate pressure at the next level.

Sanders also gives Tennessee a magnetic face of the franchise. The son of Hall of Fame cornerback and Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders has been in the spotlight for years and might be more prepared than most rookies to handle the obligations that come with leading an NFL franchise. The Titans can only hope this selection will go better than the last QB they drafted this high: 2015 No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota. — Williams