9 NFL Teams That Will Have a New QB This Offseason
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
The quarterback carousel never stops spinning in the NFL… and this offseason, it’s about to get wild. We’ve got franchise NFL QBs on the trade block. We’ve got Hall of Famers calling it a career. Plus, we’ve got first-round picks who can’t stay healthy, and fifth-round picks who can’t stop talking. Millions of guaranteed dollars sit on benches while rookies audition for jobs they haven’t earned yet.
By the time September rolls around, at least ten teams will be rolling out a different starting quarterback than the one they have now. Some of these moves are obvious. Others might surprise you. But all of them are coming… and sooner than you think.
Let’s break down ten NFL teams that will have a new quarterback this offseason.
Which NFL teams desperately need a new starting QB?
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins might steal a few wins in the back half of the season, but don’t let that fool you… The Tua Tagovailoa era in Miami is running out of time.
This season has been a disaster. Tua has been among the league leaders in interceptions all year, and his efficiency numbers have completely cratered.
He was benched for seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers during a blowout loss to Cleveland, where he threw three picks and looked completely lost. The $212 million man was watching from the sideline while a rookie out of Texas ran the offense.
Yes, the Dolphins have strung together some wins since then. Yes, Tua is still the starter. But the damage is done.
The front office already fired GM Chris Grier midseason, and it is hard not to think that Mike McDaniel is a dead man walking—regardless of what is said publicly.
This regime is on life support. Don’t be surprised if both the QB and the head coach are gone by this time next year in the NFL.
Cleveland Browns
Cleveland was wise to take a flier on Shedeur Sanders… but it is impossible to deny that the cultural fit was never right, and it feels like the franchise is eager to move on.
Sanders fell all the way to the fifth round despite being projected as a first-rounder. The Browns traded up to grab him, gave him a shot as the starter down the stretch, and watched him put up some flashy numbers—including a monster game against the Titans where he accounted for four touchdowns.
But the antics have worn thin. The silent treatment of reporters. The comments about being better than other NFL quarterbacks before he’d even started a game. There is a constant circus that follows his family everywhere. After the Deshaun Watson disaster, the last thing Cleveland wants is another quarterback who brings more drama than wins.
The Browns have two first-round picks in 2026—their own and one from Jacksonville. They’re in position to take a quarterback like Dante Moore or Ty Simpson and start fresh with someone who fits the culture they’re trying to build.
Sanders has shown he has the talent. Nobody denies that. But Cleveland has seen enough to know he’s not the guy they want as the face of the franchise. This offseason, they’ll find someone who is—even if that ends up being a HUGE mistake.
Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota is going to bring in a veteran quarterback this offseason. They’ll say all the right things about competition. They’ll give J.J. McCarthy one more chance to prove himself as an NFL QB.
He’s going to lose the job anyway.
McCarthy’s 2025 season has been historically bad. His passer rating and interception rate are among the worst we’ve seen for any quarterback through their first handful of starts in over two decades. He’s been at or near the bottom of the league in every major efficiency metric. He holds the ball too long, takes too many sacks, and makes too many mistakes at the worst possible times.
McCarthy will get his chance in training camp. He just won’t win it—and the 10th overall pick in 2024 is about to become an expensive backup in Minny.
Indianapolis Colts
Daniel Jones was having an MVP-caliber season. Then his Achilles blew, and the Colts’ season felt like it went with it.
Jones was playing at an elite level—his QBR ranked inside the top ten, and the Colts looked like legitimate playoff contenders. The guy who got laughed out of New York was proving everyone wrong… and then it all ended on one play against Jacksonville.
Now, Indianapolis has a massive problem. Jones is a free agent. An Achilles recovery takes 9-12 months. A franchise tag would cost north of $45 million for a quarterback who might not be ready for Week 1. And the Colts don’t have a first-round pick in 2026 or 2027 after trading them for Sauce Gardner.
That leaves Anthony Richardson, who lost the starting job to Jones in training camp and has been on the bench all season watching. This is his last, last chance. If Richardson can’t prove he’s the guy in 2026, Indianapolis has no backup plan and no draft capital to fix it.
Unfortunately, at this point it is clear that Daniel Jones won’t be the quarterback—and whoever is has enormous pressure to deliver immediately.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints are conducting a live audition at quarterback… and the general consensus appears to be that they already know Tyler Shough isn’t going to pass it.
Shough has made a couple of plays here and there, but he doesn’t look like he can be a legitimate difference-maker in this league.
Plus, a couple of flashes aren’t enough to excite the Saints when they’re picking in the top ten, and quarterbacks like Ty Simpson, Dante Moore, and Fernando Mendoza are sitting there waiting.
New Orleans is going to use their first-round pick on a quarterback. That’s not a prediction—it’s a certainty. The only question is whether they trade up to get their guy or hope someone falls to them.
Shough might stick around as a backup QB in the NFL. Rattler is probably gone. But neither of them will be the starter when the 2026 season kicks off—at least not long-term. The Saints need a franchise quarterback, and they’re going to try and go get one.
New York Jets
Another year, another failed quarterback experiment in New York.
The Jets signed Justin Fields to a two-year, $40 million deal this offseason, thinking he could be the answer after the Aaron Rodgers disaster.
Spoiler alert: he wasn’t.
Fields struggled mightily as a starter, winning just a couple of games while the offense ranked dead last in the league in passing yards per game. He got benched for Tyrod Taylor after owner Woody Johnson publicly criticized his play.
The offense looked broken from Week 1, and nothing improved as the season went on. Fields took a beating behind that offensive line and couldn’t make plays consistently enough to justify keeping him in there.
Here’s the good news for New York: they have five first-round picks over the next two years. They have the ammunition to trade up for a top quarterback prospect or swing a blockbuster deal.
The new regime under Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey will want to hand-pick their own guy. Fields will stick around as a backup, but his days as Gang Green’s starter are over. The carousel spins on.
Pittsburgh Steelers
While he may not have fully come to terms with it himself—or at least finalized the decision publicly… Aaron Rodgers is going to retire after the season. He told Pat McAfee in June that he was “pretty sure” this would be his final season, and the belief in league circles is that it is just a matter of when he announces it at this point.
The 42-year-old has brought just enough to the table in Pittsburgh this season, but it doesn’t look like he’s got much left in the tank as an NFL QB. He’s been efficient, he’s protected the football, and he’s given the Steelers legitimate quarterback play for the first time in years, but no one is mistaking him for the number 12 of years past…
Perhaps, with the exception of his hilarious revenge game against the Jets—four touchdowns, no turnovers, and a storybook performance against the team that wasted two years of his career.
The Steelers may want him back, but Rodgers has nothing left to prove, and the body isn’t getting any younger.
Arizona Cardinals
What a fall for Kyler Murray… but it appears that the former first overall pick’s time in the desert is unofficially over.
Multiple sources told ESPN that Arizona will likely part ways with Murray this offseason.
Coach Jonathan Gannon was so non-committal when asked if Murray would be the quarterback in 2026 that it feels like a foregone conclusion… Especially with what we have seen since the team shut him down for the season with a mid-foot sprain, it is wild to say, but the offense has actually played better without him.
Arizona has been significantly more productive with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. The passing game has opened up. The playcalling has improved. The results speak for themselves.
Murray’s contract makes a trade complicated—he’s still owed significant guaranteed money over the next few years. The Cardinals will have to eat some salary to move him. Executives around the league think his trade value is a mid-round pick at best.
But make no mistake: this marriage is ending. The Raiders, Jets, and Vikings have all been mentioned as potential destinations. Arizona will draft a quarterback or pursue one in free agency.
Kyler Murray was supposed to be the franchise. Six years later, the Cardinals are ready to move on.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Geno Smith experiment was a disaster from the moment it started… and now the Raiders are right back where they began.
Las Vegas traded a third-round pick to Seattle for Smith, then gave him a nice, fat two-year extension and somehow deluded itself into thinking that the glorified journeyman, alongside Pete Carroll, could recapture the magic from Seattle. Instead, they got one of the worst records in football, a league-leading interception total, and a collection of embarrassments.
One thing’s certain: Geno Smith won’t be the answer. The Raiders tried to shortcut their way to a franchise quarterback, and it blew up in their face. Now they have no choice but to do it the right way.
