Ten NFL Teams Most Likely to Feature a New Starting QB in 2026

Nothing excites an NFL fan base more than a new quarterback.

Even with the New York Giants currently 2-7, many Big Blue fans are elated about rookie Jaxson Dart, while the faithful in Indianapolis and Seattle are positively giddy with Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold, respectively.

Which is why, regardless of how many swings and misses a franchise may have at the position, some QB-needy clubs will eagerly be evaluating this year’s candidates — whether they be rookies available in the 2026 NFL draft, potential free-agent options or trade possibilities.

Below, we’ve ranked the 10 teams most likely to feature a new starting quarterback in 2026.

With head coach Aaron Glenn refusing to even name his starting quarterback each week now, it is painfully obvious to Jets fans that yet another change is coming at the position. Complicating matters is the Jets’ financial situation — the club has $35 million in dead cap money still on the books next year, with Aaron Rodgers and both Justin Fields ($23 million) and Tyrod Taylor ($2.4 million) under contract in 2026.

While a rookie deal could easily be managed financially, I contend that the defensive-minded head coach is likely going to prefer a veteran option in his second season rather than risk putting himself on the firing line with another losing campaign. It is also worth noting the Jets’ history of draft misses at quarterback. New York has invested five picks in quarterbacks over the past 10 drafts, including the No. 2 and No. 3 overall selections on Zach Wilson (2021) and the aforementioned Sam Darnold (2018), respectively. As eager as 78-year-old owner Woody Johnson might be to improve play at the position, will he sign off on yet another first-round gamble?

But acquiring all those draft picks in the recent trades of Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams could make the Jets real players should one of the other teams listed below opt to peddle their current quarterback.

There is no point in sugar-coating things: Las Vegas gambled on a 35-year-old Geno Smith to continue his career resurrection with the Raiders and lost.

He’s tied for the NFL lead with 11 interceptions and the Raiders are just 2-6. Smith apologists will point out that the Raiders lost two games in which he played quite well — last week’s overtime loss to Jacksonville, which saw Smith throw a season-high four touchdowns (against one interception), and a Week 3 loss to Washington in which he tossed three more scores without a turnover. Those two games account for seven of Smith’s 11 touchdown passes so far this season, however, which is why it is hard to imagine Mark Davis (and Tom Brady) standing pat at quarterback.

Smith is due $26.5 million in base salary next season, likely keeping him in the Silver and Black for at least one more year. That could allow the Raiders to groom his ultimate replacement. That could be one of the three other quarterbacks currently on the roster — Kenny Pickett, Aidan O’Connell or Cam Miller — or invest in a new talent in the 2026 draft, which is what I have projected in my latest mock draft.

There could be a massive rebuild starting in Miami with general manager Chris Grier already shown the door after eight games and both head coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa potentially following him soon.

While his 15 touchdown passes are acceptable on paper, Tagovailoa is tied with the aforementioned Geno Smith with a league-high 11 interceptions. He also has six fumbles for the 2-7 Dolphins. Needless to say, owner Stephen Ross was expecting more when he agreed to pay Tagovailoa $212.4 million dollars on a four-year extension in July 2024.

Sure, a new coach could be brought in to try to resurrect Tagovailoa, but McDaniel is highly regarded in the league for his innovative offense, as is current Miami offensive coordinator Frank Smith and quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell. If this trio can’t turn around Tagovailoa, other teams might be hesitant to take on his salary in a trade, especially given his history of concussions.

The only other quarterbacks currently on Miami’s roster are former No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson and seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers.

Like the Dolphins, the Cardinals have a very expensive, very talented and occasionally injury-prone quarterback who might just be on his way out of town.

Since being selected No. 1 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, Kyler Murray has led the Cardinals to a 38-48-1 record as their starter. He’s missed at least two games in four of his seven NFL seasons, including, of course, the current campaign, in which he’s been sidelined the past three games with a mid-foot sprain and was just put on IR for at least four more weeks.

And therein lies the real “problem” for the Cardinals — the club is playing its best football of the season with Jacoby Brissett now at quarterback. The sample size with Brissett is just three games, but points are up, turnovers are down and with Murray indefinitely sidelined, general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon have the opportunity to make a real decision about the long-term future of the club. There were reports that Brissett would be starting this weekend even if Murray were healthy.

Murray still has three more years remaining on a five-year deal worth $230.5 million. If the Cardinals were to simply release him next spring, they’d be on the books for $57.7 million in dead cap space, which is why the most QB-needy teams in the NFL might want to start their search by calling the Cardinals for a trade.

One could make the argument that the Browns, at 2-6, should top this article. But if GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski are to return next season (yes, a pair of mighty big ifs), it seems unlikely that the team would invest even more draft picks in young quarterbacks with Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders on the roster. Gabriel isn’t wowing anyone with his arm strength, but he’s quietly posted a 5:2 TD-INT ratio. Those numbers certainly are an improvement over the 2:6 ratio Joe Flacco provided during his four-game stint in Cleveland prior to being traded to the Bengals. Sanders is now Cleveland’s No. 2 behind Gabriel but has yet to take a regular-season snap.

The rookie duo count just over $2.5 million in combined salary this season. However, the elephant in the room remains Deshaun Watson, whose massive $80.71 million cap hit next season is simply too much to eat. Whether he plays or not, Watson appears destined to be on this roster again next season, “capping” what the Browns can realistically do at quarterback for the foreseeable future.

Criticize his age and unwillingness to scramble all you’d like, Aaron Rodgers has played well in his first season in Pittsburgh, completing 68.7% of his passes with a 17-5 touchdown to interception ratio. To put those numbers into perspective, the future first ballot Hall of Famer has only completed passes at a higher rate in two of his previous 16 seasons as a starter in the NFL.

And yet no one knows for sure whether the soon-to-be 42-year-old signal-caller will want to return to Pittsburgh in 2026 — or even if the Steelers want him back. At some point, general manager Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin will want a legitimate quarterback of the future, and there has been no evidence that the other three passers currently on the roster (Mason Rudolph, Will Howard and Skyler Thompson) are long-term solutions.

It might surprise some to see the Saints this low on the list. After all, New Orleans is one of three teams in the league with just one win on the season, and only the Tennessee Titans (130) have scored fewer points through their first nine games than the Saints’ 138. If this continues, the Saints will hold one of the very first picks of the 2026 NFL Draft, potentially giving head coach Kellen Moore and longtime general manager Mickey Loomis their pick of the litter.

The fact that the Saints selected Tyler Shough 40th overall a year ago, however, is reason enough to suggest that New Orleans may pass on the opportunity to take another quarterback early next year. Loomis is the longest-tenured general manager in the NFL, and he’s never shown a willingness to invest multiple early picks on quarterbacks in the past. In fact, over his 23 years at the helm, Shough’s selection at No. 40 was the earliest the Saints have drafted a quarterback.

I believe it will take a colossal failure by Shough (and Spencer Rattler) over the second half of the season to force the Saints to rethink their strategy. I personally believe in the talent of both these quarterbacks — as well as that of Moore — and therefore anticipate New Orleans passing on a new signal-caller, at least for another year.

Bryce Young has lived up to expectations since being picked No. 1 overall by Carolina in 2023, but he’s quietly shown steady improvement, raising both his completion percentage and TD-INT ratio in each of his three seasons. For all the criticism he’s received, Young has never thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in an NFL season and his current 11:6 mark in this metric (as well as the Panthers’ four-game win streak) suggest that his best football is still ahead of him.

The work done by general manager Dan Morgan, head coach Dave Canales and Young himself is encouraging, but owner David Tepper has proven to be both impatient and impulsive. Any slowing of the Panthers’ prowl in the second half could be all the evidence he needs to tear it at all down — or at least trade Young, should a suitable offer come along.

Even if the Panthers bright young trio at GM, head coach and starting quarterback return, backup quarterback Andy Dalton is 38 and his base salary triples (to $3.9 million) in 2026, and third-stringer Mike White is a pending free agent.

With Matthew Stafford playing at an MVP level, one might wonder why the Rams would be included on this list at all, even this low. But like the Steelers with Aaron Rodgers, the Rams have little choice but to plan for the future. After all, while it might seem like a lifetime ago now, given how well Stafford and the 6-2 Rams are playing, it was actually only a few months ago that back pain threatened to force the 37-year-old quarterback out of the game entirely.

Regardless of how ominous Stafford’s back injury was then, it bears repeating that he’s playing at an extraordinary level right now. Stafford leads the NFL in passing yards per game (268.4) and his 21:2 TD-INT ratio so far this season is both the best in the league and of his storied career. He is under contract for 2026 (with a $48.26 million cap hit) and his stellar play warrants another extension, which the Rams would surely jump at if Stafford and the club felt that his back would hold up. But there’s also the possibility that he retires in the coming offseason, especially if the Rams win the Super Bowl again.

Even if Stafford returns next year, the Rams figure to draft a quarterback, as primary backup Jimmy Garoppolo is a pending free agent himself and Stetson Bennett is their only other QB under contract.

Like the Rams with Stafford, the 7-2 Colts may seem like an odd choice to be included in this article, but with Daniel Jones on a one-year deal, the club has to re-sign him or will find itself in the market for a new quarterback in the offseason. Regardless of where he plays next season, Jones is due a massive raise from the $14 million he’s currently making.

Over the first nine games, Jones is an obvious candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, completing a career-high 69.6% of his passes with a 14:6 TD-INT ratio while leading the league with 2,404 passing yards. With five rushing touchdowns, as well, Jones is an ideal dual-threat in Shane Steichen’s offense with the playing style and personality to run with the Colts for years to come. But the same wasn’t the case with former No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson, who could fetch at least a middle-round pick if peddled away as another team’s reclamation project. The Colts invested a sixth-round pick in Riley Leonard last spring and also have Brett Rypien on their practice squad.

Rob Rang is an NFL Draft analyst for FOX Sports. He has been covering the NFL Draft for more than 25 years. He also works as a scout with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. Follow him on X @RobRang.

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