Playing quarterback is the toughest thing to do in professional sports, so it's not a shock that the quarterbacks dominate the headlines, get paid the most, and are typically the faces of the franchises. That isn't going to slow down anytime soon, either.
As training camps continue to ramp up across the NFL, we'll continue taking unique looks at the coming season until actual football hits, which isn't too far away. The start of the 2026 regular season is less than two months away, so real football is returning soon.
Let's take a deeper look at the quarterback situation and look at one quarterback under a mountain of pressure in each division, looking at eight in total.
1 QB from each division under the most pressure for the 2026 NFL Season
AFC North - Joe Burrow
With all that the Cincinnati Bengals added to the defensive side of the ball this offseason, Joe Burrow suddenly finds himself on the best team he's been on thus far. Unfortunately, though, the Bengals have not made the playoff since the 2022 season, and Burrow has suffered multiple major injuries. If Cincy deals with another non-playoff season, or Burrow is again struggling to stay healthy, the entire operation could unravel.
AFC South - CJ Stroud
CJ Stroud has a massive extension on the line with the Houston Texans. If he plays well in 2026 and is able to show signs of his 2023 self, he'd surely ink a massive deal, but he's been rather average in the 2024 and 2025 seasons despite the Texans having double-digit wins all three years of his career. For Stroud, there is a large financial reward on the line here.
AFC East - Josh Allen
Josh Allen actually has the most playoff wins by a quarterback without a start in the Super Bowl, and it's becoming a yearly joke at this point that the Buffalo Bills will find a way to lose in heartbreaking fashion, and Allen isn't getting any younger. The pressure will continue to get heavier and heavier if this keeps up.
AFC West - Bo Nix
Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos would have absolutely made the Super Bowl in 2025 had Nix not broken his ankle, so he not only may have already missed out on a Super Bowl title, but he's also a quarterback with a massive contract extension on the line, as he would be eligible following the 2026 season.
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