It\u2019s time for many NFL teams to start shopping for their next quarterback. When looking for veterans, this offseason will be as interesting as any in recent memory, in large part because the 2026 draft has so little to offer at the position. There\u2019s the consensus pick at No. 1 overall, Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza. But even more than Cam Ward last year (supposedly an underwhelming No. 1 pick), Mendoza isn\u2019t necessarily a transcendent talent. To make matters worse, there appears to be less QB depth in this draft class than last year, too. Mendoza might not be elite, but he\u2019s the only quarterback with clear-cut starter traits. So that places an increased emphasis on veteran NFL quarterbacks who should be available this offseason, one way or another. Let\u2019s take a look at those QBs, in descending order. 7. Kirk Cousins How to get him: Trade with Falcons I\u2019m not saying he\u2019s going to save an organization. But if you need a starting quarterback, that\u2019s what Cousins is. He\u2019s smart. He\u2019s dedicated. He understands the game at a deep level. And he has all the traits to run any offense, especially now that he\u2019s further removed from his Achilles injury. He looks more physically ready to play than he did when he joined the Falcons in 2024. Cousins is still under contract with Atlanta and therefore might not become available. But if new head coach Kevin Stefanski intends to go with Michael Penix Jr. or wants to go in a completely different direction at QB, it could help the team to get Cousins\u2019 contract off the salary cap. 6. Tua Tagovailoa How to get him: Potential free agent if cut by Dolphins or trade target in a salary dump We saw just how many things have to go right for Tagovailoa to succeed, and that\u2019s why it never made sense to pay him $55 million per year. The size of his contract made it very difficult to support him. Which is why a new contract \u2014 a less lucrative one \u2013 could help him find success again. Tagovailoa must have a strong supporting cast. And so, when teams look to build around him, they’ll need to think about how to create a situation similar to what Miami had in 2023. And you\u2019re probably thinking:\u00a0Good luck!\u00a0But don\u2019t be so dismissive. Those Dolphins obviously had star receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and the running back tandem of Raheem Mostert and De\u2019Von Achane. But the offensive line wasn\u2019t all that good. Neither was the defense. And Mike McDaniel had his moment, but he\u2019s clearly not the transcendent coach that we once crowned him to be. At the risk of sounding overly negative about the Dolphins, I\u2019m trying to point out that someone can put Tua in a position to succeed again. But first, he\u2019ll probably have to beat out someone else, because no team is handing him a starting job at this point. 5. Daniel Jones How to get him: Free agency Jones had a nice start to the season when he was healthy, but then the Colts crumbled quickly, particularly as he racked up injuries. He was playing on a broken leg when his Achilles tendon tore \u2014 and ended his season in early December. If all things were held equal and Jones\u2019 total health was a guarantee, then he would rank much higher on this list. But he\u2019s not a Madden player. His Achilles recovery will slow him down next year, and his mobility is a part of his game. So I\u2019d have serious reservations about signing him for a QB1 role in 2026, because you’d also need a contingency plan. Jones has upside. He has talent. We’ve seen what he can do. It\u2019s just hard to know how quickly he can get back to his peak. It\u2019s also hard to know if he can sustain it. In short, it\u2019s hard to know if “Danny Dimes” will return in 2026. 4. Mac Jones How to get him: Trade with 49ers Brock Purdy showed why he has more upside as a creative playmaker. But filling in for Purdy last season, Jones proved why he was once a first-round draft choice who still has the tools to start in the NFL, particularly in a QB-friendly system (and one that features elite playmakers like Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle). Jones\u2019 stint in New England proved that he could play with help from a good offensive coordinator (Josh McDaniels). He also proved that he couldn’t do it all on his own when dragged down by a lack of quality personnel and coaching on offense. There are no hidden surprises here. For F1 fans, I’d compare Jones to Valtteri Bottas, who was so consistent in a Mercedes, the fastest car on the track. But when he moved to Alfa Romeo, he couldn’t challenge the field. He missed his Mercedes. In many ways, that F1 comparison is true for several guys on this list. It\u2019s just that the 27-year-old Jones is younger and has a shorter injury history. The only downside is that it\u2019ll require draft capital to get him as he’s signed through next season with San Francisco. 3. Kyler Murray How to get him: Potential free agent if cut by Cardinals or trade target in a salary dump Will Murray ever be consistent enough to be a quality NFL starter? It seems like a boring question, particularly for a player like Murray, who can be as fun to watch as any QB in the league. But that\u2019s only his highlights. The whole body of work makes for a murky evaluation. It can\u2019t be a coincidence that the team wrote into his contract that he needs to spend more time on film study \u2014 which means less time playing video games. That element of the contract was once nothing more than a joke. But now, with years of Murray getting stuck in the mud developmentally, it\u2019s fair to wonder whether he is failing to grind in the ways that successful quarterbacks do. He has considerable upside and film that proves he can play well for sustained periods of time. But that just begs the question: After seven NFL seasons, why hasn\u2019t Murray put it all together yet? Can he find a coach who will help him not just reach his peak potential but hold onto it for a full season (and postseason)? I\u2019m hopeful. But I\u2019m not betting on it. 2. Aaron Rodgers How to get him: Free agency He can still sling the ball when he has a clean pocket. But given the league-wide trend where defenses are one step ahead of the offenses \u2014 especially in attacking pass protection \u2014 it\u2019s hard to work with an aging QB like Rodgers, who no longer has the athleticism to make something happen when the play breaks down. The good news is that the 21-year NFL veteran might be as sharp as Matthew Stafford when it comes to smarts about pre-snap and coverages. Rodgers just wasn’t in the Rams’ offense last year. He has seen everything and probably has an answer for everything. It\u2019s just a matter of whether his 42-year-old body can do what his mind thinks it can. But if a team needs a winner to steer its organization for one season, Rodgers makes all the sense in the world. Obviously, Pittsburgh could work, especially considering it would mean a reunion with Mike McCarthy, who coached Rodgers in Green Bay. Don\u2019t count out Minnesota, however. 1. Malik Willis How to get him: Free agency It\u2019s like that Paul Rudd meme:\u00a0Who would\u2019ve thought? Not me! It\u2019s so hard to rank Willis against proven entities, where signing one of them would be about managing the devil you know. Aaron Rodgers is aging quickly and has physical limitations. Kyler Murray may never be consistent enough to lead an organization. And where do you even start with Tua Tagovailoa\u2019s issues? We know what\u2019s wrong with each of those quarterbacks. In the case of Willis, we don\u2019t know what we don\u2019t know \u2014 particularly when it comes to his weaknesses. His strengths were on display this season, with impressive arm strength and talent \u2014 along with an aptitude for the Kyle Shanahan system that Matt LaFleur runs in Green Bay. Willis didn\u2019t win his starts for the Packers, but he definitely won over league talent evaluators. There\u2019s an enticing amount of talent to work with, even if the sample size is so small that it might scare off some teams. But it only takes one. And some team is going to sign Willis to a three-year deal with the thought that he is the next Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield. To be “the next” draft bust turned successful journeyman starter, Willis will need a safe landing spot, perhaps like Atlanta. As we saw with Darnold, if you hit on a quarterback at the right point in his career, you can legitimately win a Super Bowl. Willis isn\u2019t the clear-cut\u00a0best QB available. But he could be good for a long period of time. That\u2019s why I like him the most. He could give a team 10 years of solid play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s time for many NFL teams to start shopping for their next quarterback. When looking for veterans, this offseason will be as interesting as any in recent memory, in large part because the 2026 draft has so little to offer at the position. There\u2019s the consensus pick at No. 1 overall, Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}