The 2022 NFL free agent quarterback crop is not an elite group, but there are three players that could resurrect their careers on new teams.
The 2022 NFL Free Agent market does not include a player like Tom Brady at quarterback. Heck, there’s not even a Kirk Cousins.
What this year’s NFL free agent market has at the quarterback position is still intriguing, even if it’s only absence that has made the heart grow fonder on some of these players.
Teetering on the edge of reclamation project and NFL Draft bust are three former high draft choices that have a chance — perhaps their last — to resurrect their NFL careers in 2022. Teams that may have the luxury of punting their QB situations to 2023 or beyond should be lined up for the chance to take a shot on one of these three guys.
NFL Free Agent QB no. 1: Jameis Winston
Jameis Winston was the number one overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Coming out of Florida State, Winston was considered an outstanding NFL prospect given his huge arm talent and incredible Heisman season for the Seminoles back in 2013 when he had 40 touchdown passes compared to just 10 interceptions as a freshman.
Although his sophomore campaign included 18 interceptions, the league was still high on Winston and the Buccaneers took him first overall at the age of 21.
Winston made the Pro Bowl as a rookie but as bright as his flashes were with the Bucs early on, his interception percentage continued to climb.
The Bucs stuck with the former top pick through a 30-interception season in 2019. Sure, Winston still had 33 touchdown passes, but the decision to move on in 2020 was extremely easy for Tampa Bay when Tom Brady became available.
Winston had to go latch on elsewhere as a backup in 2020 and landed with the New Orleans Saints. In 2021, he showed incredible improvement with his ball security and overall decision-making, throwing 14 touchdowns compared to just three interceptions on 161 pass attempts to start the season before tearing an ACL.
His touchdown percentage of 8.7 was off the charts, and if he had maintained that pace while throwing the same number of passes he did in his last full regular season (626 in 2019) he would have thrown 55 touchdowns.
Would he have kept that pace? Not likely, but it’s where he was at after six games and change.
Has Winston turned a corner? Can he be trusted as a QB1?
The sample we saw in 2021 indicates to me that Winston may be the most likely of the 2022 NFL Free Agent QBs to resurrect his career with a new team.
NFL Free Agent QB no. 2: Marcus Mariota
Unlike Jameis Winston with the New Orleans Saints, Marcus Mariota has not really had the chance to show whether or not he can still be an NFL starter via spot duty or anything else.
His appearances have been sparse in the last two seasons, but teams could still be high on the traits and mental makeup of the former Heisman candidate out of Oregon.
Mariota, as fate would have it, was the number two overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft right behind Jameis Winston.
He and the Titans had much better team success early on than Winston and the Bucs did, and Mariota made the Titans look like they had the better prospect, too.
He helped lead the Titans to the playoffs in the 2017 season where he had four touchdown passes in two games, but the Titans fell short against the Patriots.
Mariota’s pure speed and athletic talent hasn’t gone anywhere, and we’ve seen evidence of that in the brief appearances he’s made for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Ryan Tannehill took his job in Tennessee and showed the rest of the NFL that reclamation projects can be very worthwhile, so is it possible that Mariota can get another starting job or at least the chance to compete for one in 2022 and do what Tannehill once did?
Again, the talent is still there. The question at this point is whether or not Mariota can find a way to get back to the form we saw on a consistent basis back in 2016 when his touchdown percentage was hovering just under 6.0 percent.
NFL Free Agent QB no. 3: Mitchell Trubisky
Although Mitchell Trubisky was taken two years after both Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, he will still be the same age going into the 2022 NFL season as his free agent peers.
Trubisky was the second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft which also produced Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, something Chicago Bears fans will never live down.
Trubisky seemed to be on a positive trajectory as of his second season with the Bears, completing almost 67 percent of his passes with 24 touchdowns as the Bears made it to the postseason with 11 wins while Trubisky was under center.
At the time, many praised Matt Nagy for scheming an offense Trubisky could thrive in. A few years later, and everyone is blaming Nagy for Trubisky’s demise.
There has been a lot of talk about Trubisky as the who’s who of NFL executives and media have gathered at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. The former North Carolina Tar Heel spent this past season as Josh Allen’s backup and he really impressed everyone in Buffalo.
Although most players are only going to get better on the field, the structure and success of Buffalo were good for Trubisky, and he benefitted from being the backup to an MVP candidate.
Trubisky’s teams, for all his faults, have had quite a bit of success and since the start of the 2018 season, he’s been part of 25 wins compared to only 13 losses as a starter.
He’s also never thrown a pick-six.
Given the fact that Bills GM Brandon Beane is giving Trubisky a ringing endorsement and also the fact that Trubisky is a very talented athlete, it would be shocking if he wasn’t given an opportunity to start somewhere in 2022.