With the 2025 NFL Season now officially over, we can turn our attention to the 2026 NFL Offseason and all the fun it will bring. In today's NFL, the quarterbacks have taken center stage, and no team is going to consistently win without strong quarterback play, period.
We'll see many teams across the league get aggressive at the quarterback position this offseason, for better or for worse. In some instances, the offseason quarterback decisions end up working out, but others just blow up in a team's face, kind of like the Russell Wilson trade by the Denver Broncos back in 2022, for example.
Ahead of what promises to be a wild offseason, let's power rank all 32 projected starting passers for the 2026 season. We'll do a bit of predicting here as well and take a stab at predicting quarterback trades and also making rankings based on the potential 2026 production.
Power ranking all projected starting QBs for the 2026 NFL Season
Unranked - Fernando Mendoza, Las Vegas Raiders
Fernando Mendoza is very likely getting dradted by the Las Vegas Raiders and will surely emerge as the team's Week 1 starter, but he's not yet taken a snap in the NFL, so instead of ranking him 32nd, we'll do a much more fair 'unranked' spot for the time being.
31. Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns
Shedeur Sanders ended the year as the starter for the Cleveland Browns, but he truly didn't play well. It's hard to see how Sanders makes it as a franchise quarterback, and he might not even be backup material if his rookie season tells us anything.
30. JJ McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
At the moment, JJ McCarthy has to be seen as the leader in the clubhouse to start for the Minnesota Vikings in 2026. He did have an encouraging final month or so of the season, so that could bode well for his chances to breakout in 2026.
29. Kirk Cousins, Arizona Cardinals (Projected signing)
When the Atlanta Falcons officially move on from Kirk Cousins, one of the only spots he may actually be able to start for a team would be the Arizona Cardinals, a team very likely moving on from Kyler Murray in some capacity this offseason. Cousins probably has a bit left in the tank, but it can't be more than a year or two.
28. Michael Penix Jr, Atlanta Falcons
Michael Penix Jr has to be the answer for the Falcons in 2026, or the team is going to face a major rebuild. He played OK in 2025 but still has much to prove, as he suffered a knee injury and could not finish the year.
27. Malik Willis, Miami Dolphins
With the Miami Dolphins expected to move on from Tua Tagovailoa in the offseason, the team will need a new starting quarterback. The Dolphins new head coach is Jeff Hafley, who recently spent time with the Green Bay Packers, where backup quarterback Malik Willis really did himself a ton of favors. Willis is going to sign a modest deal this offseason and could get, perhaps, $30 million per year on the open market.
With the obvious connection to the Dolphins with Hafley in the mix, this signing makes a lot of sense, but Willis has not had this type of success week-over-week, obviously, so we cannot rank him very high for that reason alone.
26. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Bryce Young didn't really play all that well in 2025. He was thoroughly below average, but still managed to play the best football of his career. That should tell you a lot about this player going forward...
25. Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
Cam Ward was beginning to put things together for the Tennessee Titans down the stretch in the 2025 NFL Season, and I am truly excited to see how he could breakout in 2026 with an offensive coordinator in Brian Daboll who has done this before.
24. Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints
After quite the rookie season that honestly came out of nowhere, Tyler Shough could truly shoot up our quarterback rankings in very quick fashion. Shough appears to have that 'it' factor about him, as he produced at a high level for a rookie despite not having a ton of help on offense with the New Orleans Saints in 2025.
23. Jaxson Dart, New York Giants
Jaxson Dart has the goods, folks, but he has to learn how to take care of himself more, as he suffered multiple concussions during a strong rookie season. A huge reason why John Harbaugh took the job with the Giants has to be because of the type of quarterback Dart can develop into. He's another second-year quarterback who can shoot up these rankings in 2026.
22. Kyler Murray, New York Jets (Projected trade with ARI)
If nothing else, Kyler Murray could give the New York Jets some much-needed stability at the position for a few seasons. He's not an elite player, but he can make a lot happen with his legs and has quite the arm, so the Jets could set a foundation here in a projected trade with the Cardinals for Murray.
21. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
Jayden Daniels struggled to stay healthy during the 2025 NFL Season, which is a huge concern, as he is a thinner quarterback and is also mobile. Heading into 2026, Daniels has to focus on his health, as nothing else matters if he won't be on the field for the Washington Commanders.
20. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaron Rodgers coming back for one more season and being able to play for Mike McCarthy one last time would be something. Rodgers was fine in 2025, but nothing special. He's still one of the 32 best quarterbacks in the world and, if he were to play one more season officially, would unsurprinsingly be efficient.
19. Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts
Daniel Jones will likely re-sign with the Indianapolis Colts and look to build on an encouraging 2025 season. He's 19th in our power rankings right now and will have to stay on the field for an entire season.
18. CJ Stroud, Houston Texans
CJ Stroud might not be nearly as good as some of us thought following an insane rookie season back in 2023. He's down to no. 18 in our quarterback power rankings, as he's had more average and bad quarterback play than good or great.
17. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield regressed a bit in 2025, but so did the entire franchise. Mayfield should be able to get into the high teens at some point and does at least seem to now have a 'high floor' level of play at the position.
16. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Jalen Hurts is an averag quarterback, folks, and with some of the early rumblings with the Philadelphia Eagles heading into the offseason, I believe we could see Hurts himself not do anything special in 2026 without a superteam being around him.
15. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson was another mobile quarterback that struggled to stay healthy in 2025. This has to bump him down our power rankings, as the top ability in the NFL has and always will be availability. Jackson can still emerge as one of the three best quarterbacks in the NFL, though.
14. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Caleb Williams simply has to get that completion percentage up, and that's the main thing that could hold him back in 2026. Williams and the Chicago Bears had a great season, but Williams himself has to work on completing more passes. It's honestly that simple.
13. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Brock Purdy is the most 'good' quarterback in the NFL. He's not going to ever really take a game over, but he's functional at everything you want a franchise quarterback to be functional at. As long as he's with the San Francisco 49ers, they'll continue to win a good bit of games.
12. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
Sam Darnold did largely struggle with turnovers during the 2025 season, and his passing touchdown production also took a hit from 2024 intio 2025. He'll still be looked at as one of the better quarterbacks in the league going forward, though.
11. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
There were a ton of starting passers that missed time in 2025. Joe Burrow was one of them. He'll likely head into 2026 fully healthy, but health has been a massive concern for him.
10. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL near the end of the 2025 NFL Season, and his status for Week 1 is not a guarantee, but Mahomes probably thinks he can make it back into the lineup. The last bit of play we have see from him, though, was nothing overly special.
9. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
This is as good as we'll see Justin Herbert in the NFL. He's really not close to being an elite quarterback and has had a few postseason stinkers. Outside of some nice statistics in the regular season, what else separates Herbert from other passers in the league? Still, though, he deserves a ton of credit for being efficient every season.
8. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers stumbled to the finish line in 2025 and were one-and-done in the playoffs this year. However, Love really made some strides in 2025 as a passer and could continue that high level of play into 2026.
7. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
If you can't see it yet with Bo Nix, I do not know what to tell you. Nix is easily inside our top-10, especially after his insane Divisional Round performance, and especially after watching how inept the Broncos offense was in the AFC Championship Game.
6. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen is no. 6 in our quarterback power rankings. We all know how good Allen can be. He's the MVP winner from 2024 and has the capability to win the MVP yet again in 2026. However, the playoff exits are beginning to pile up.
5. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence ended the 2025 NFL Season on a hot streak, and if that can continue heading into 2026, the Jacksonville Jaguars will see their quarterback ascend to top-5 status, perhaps ever higher. It finally seems like the Jaguars have something special brewing.
4. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Dak Prescott's stellar 2025 season was wasted due to a below-average defense, and it's really a shame that I had to type that out. At the end of the day, though, Prescott was among the most efficient quarterbacks in the league, and if the Dallas Cowboys can just field an average defense, they'll be back in the postseason in 2026.
3. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
In a similiar 2025 situation as Prescott, Jared Goff was also insanely efficient but not in the postseason. Like the Cowboys, the Detroit Lions have to get the defense right, but that doesn't take away from Goff's ridiculous level of play in 2025.
2. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Drake Maye nearly won the NFL MVP this year and is likely on the doorstep of a shocking New England Patriots dynasty. He's no. 2 in our power rankings after a season for the record books.
1. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Matthew Stafford won the MVP this year and was, by far, the best quarterback in the NFL. He'll ride into 2026 as the league's best passer and could have at least one more notable year ahead of him for the Los Angeles Rams.