Ranking the quarterback history of every NFL franchise

The middle of this ranking was quite hard to parse, but the top few and the bottom few teams were a little easier to figure out. One team had to be last, though, and that is the Cardinals. The Cardinals just said goodbye to Kyler Murray, a first-overall pick who didn’t quite work out. There have been no MVPs, no Offensive Players of the Year, and the team’s all-time leading passer, Jim Hart, threw more interceptions than touchdowns in his career. Carson Palmer is arguably as good as it ever got, and that’s not ideal.

People rightfully dunk on the Jets’ quarterback history, for the most part, but they also point to Joe Namath. The thing is, Namath, by dint of personality and Super Bowl III, is overrated. Yes, he played in a different era, but he finished his Jets tenure having completed 50.2 percent of his passes for 170 touchdowns and 215 interceptions. Still, that Super Bowl III win led by “Broadway Joe” kept the Jets out of the proverbial basement.

This is the first team that, at present, has hope of rising up this list. Caleb Williams is promising. However, if he does not improve, he can only lift the Bears so far up this list. He hasn’t looked like an MVP or an All-Pro by any means. We still really need to reach back to Sid Luckman, who retired in 1950.

You may know the name Otto Graham, who was a Hall of Famer, but also retired in 1955. Here’s another name for you, though: Brian Sipe. Sipe, as a Brown, was MVP in 1980. As a Brown, he also made a single Pro Bowl, also in 1980. That was an outlier season, and given Graham retired during the Eisenhower Administration, there have been enough downturns for the Browns to still be in the bottom five.

The Jaguars benefit from having only been around roughly 30 years, though that benefit only got them above the Browns, more or less. Trevor Lawrence is still in his mid-20s, and he still has upside. However, if he sticks around, the franchise records he’ll break all belong to Mark Brunell. Before Lawrence, the Jaguars had a propensity for drafting quarterback busts. That still holds this relatively young franchise back.

We’re out of the bleak territory now, so consider the Raiders the bottom of a muddled middle. This is not recency bias, though recent history hasn’t helped the Raiders. Ken Stabler is in the Hall of Fame, possibly deservingly. He won an MVP. So did Rich Gannon, though that was an outlier for a very good, not great, quarterback. Very good and not great also applies to Derek Carr, Daryle Lamonica, and Jim Plunkett. After Stabler, a borderline Hall of Famer nobody would consider a top-25 quarterback in NFL history, there are a few solid names, and then a lot of mediocrity.

Sam Darnold playing as he did en route to the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl definitely helped the Seahawks swap with the Raiders here. It also helps that Russell Wilson’s career already seems underrated at this point. Matt Hasselbeck was fine. Dave Krieg quietly went to three Pro Bowls. Warren Moon snuck a Pro Bowl in with the Seahawks. The ceiling isn't as high as the Raiders', but the floor is higher, and the middle is more robust.

Cam Newton’s MVP season. There. That should be enough for 25th by itself, right? However, there’s also the bananas year when Steve Beuerlein led the NFL in passing yards. Oh, and remember when Jake Delhomme was briefly good? Bryce Young is unproven, but the Panthers are no older than the Jaguars. They get the same benefit, but also get the benefit of having an MVP season from a quarterback.

And now, the NFL’s most-recent franchise. The Texans came out of the gate on nightmarish footing, with David Carr one of the bigger busts in NFL Draft history. However, while C.J. Stroud has given some reason for concern that his Offensive Rookie of the Year season will be his best season, he’s still young. Also, while Deshaun Watson is unlikeable and long an NFL afterthought, he was great for a bit there. Aside from Carr, who only lasted five seasons in the end, the history for Houston isn’t that bad.

We’re already at a point where, spiritually, the Vikings feel closer to the top five than the bottom five. Fran Tarkenton was great, but Tarkenton also made four of his nine Pro Bowls as a Giant. Then, we get to Kirk Cousins being solid, and Daunte Culpepper being solid, and Warren Moon having a couple of years, and Randall Cunningham really just having 1998. There are franchises with multiple Hall of Famers, and of course with all-time greats. The Vikings are not one of those franchises.

A decade ago, the Buccaneers would have been last. Then, a couple of things happened. First, arguably the best quarterback of all time, Tom Brady, swung through town, had two great seasons and one good one, and won a Super Bowl. Then, Baker Mayfield found career footing in Tampa Bay. Now, thanks to the decades of the 2020s, the Buccaneers are in a better place.

If Jayden Daniels can stay on the field, things are looking up. Sammy Baugh, a Hall of Famer, retired in 1952. Sonny Jurgensen didn’t retire until 1974, but the time he was first-team All-Pro he was an Eagle. Joe Theismann was good, as was Mark Rypien, but there’s something to be said for a franchise where its quarterback greats both spent the entirety or the bulk of their careers before the Super Bowl.

With the Houston Oilers in the mix, Warren Moon factors in, and that changes the landscape. Of course, even in the Titans era, there is Steve McNair, who was co-MVP one time. Ryan Tannehill was also solid. Had Vince Young panned out, it would be a different story, but instead the Titans just eked into the top 20.

The Lions are this high because of three guys, two of whom are their last two starting quarterbacks. Detroit sure is lucky Jared Goff has panned out. Also, the fact that Matthew Stafford is seemingly on his way to the Hall of Fame helps. Of course, while he played the bulk of his career with the Lions, he cemented his Hall of Fame resume with another franchise. Then, we go old school with Bobby Layne, a Hall of Famer who was first-team All-Pro with the Lions twice.

The sheer percentage of Falcons quarterback history that is Matt Ryan helps a ton. He was an MVP, after all. Ryan played in 222 games for the Falcons. Steve Bartkowski, a perfectly middling quarterback, is second with 123. There’s also the Michael Vick factor. No, he didn’t live up to the immense hype, but he also changed the landscape for running quarterbacks.

Eli Manning was pretty good, and he’s the definitive Giants quarterback, so it’s kind of fitting that this team is average in these rankings. He and Phil Simms had the best careers as Giants, and they both won two Super Bowls, but neither is seen as a Hall of Famer in any capacity. The Giants got a slight boost, though, from Y.A. Tittle winning an MVP with the team back in the day, though he only played for the team for four seasons.

Yeah, it’s a bit surprising on first blush to see the Bengals rank 16th, at least if you grew up in the ‘90s. You might be thinking, “Sure, since then there has been Carson Palmer and Andy Dalton, and they were both good, but neither was remarkable.” True! However, both Ken Anderson and Boomer Esiason won MVPs as Bengals. That’s two Bengals QBs who have been MVPs! Joe Burrow has worn the “when healthy” qualifier in a major way, but when healthy, he shows that he could be a third Bengal to win MVP.

Donovan McNabb? A little underrated. Jalen Hurts? A little overrated. Let’s say they balance one another out. Ron Jaworski was a TV staple for many years, but he was merely a good quarterback. The Carson Wentz ride turned out to be a bit of a roller coaster. Some old-school greats were Eagles, but only at the beginning or end of their careers. This feels about right.

Two very good guys take up a hefty portion of the Steelers' starts. Ben Roethlisberger and Terry Bradshaw combine for 417 games played. They also share six Super Bowl titles. However, neither Roethlisberger nor Bradshaw was ever the driving force of a Steelers Super Bowl team. Bradshaw is in the Hall of Fame because he was the quarterback of the team with the “Steel Curtain” defense, and he won one MVP award that is a little questionable (notably, he was not Offensive Player of the Year that year). Neither was an all-time great, and that makes it harder to climb higher on this list.

Drew Brees. This ranking is largely about Drew Brees. He is one of the top-10 quarterbacks in NFL history. He is second in career passing yards and career passing touchdowns in NFL history. Brees also played 15 seasons with the Saints. There were a lot of rough years at the position between Archie Manning (who was pretty banged up even before he hit the NFL) and Brees, but when a guy with an argument for being one of the five-best quarterbacks in NFL history spent that long with your franchise, you can’t finish any lower than this.

The aforementioned Matthew Stafford, of course, is now a Ram, and he’s given them a bit of a boost. There was also the magical, if brief, run of Kurt Warner. Hey, two MVPs in three seasons as a starter is nothing to sneeze at. Norm Van Brocklin and Roman Gabriel, both of whom ended their careers with the Eagles, were Rams for much longer. Even the unremarkable guys like Marc Bulger were solid enough.

In our books, Dan Marino was better than Drew Brees. He’s also basically shouldering the entire load for the Dolphins. Bob Griese was also very good, though. Those two can’t quite get the Dolphins into the top 10, though, and the current situation indicates, if anything, the Dolphins might head down this list before heading up it.

Jim Kelly is a Hall of Famer. Josh Allen will be a Hall of Famer. It’s really that simple. Maybe we are doing a smidge of speculating on Allen’s future here, but he’s already won an MVP and is a great of his generation. Then, we have a lot of guys who were solid for a couple seasons. Yes, neither Kelly nor Allen is Marino or Brees, but both are better than the second-best guy for those franchises, and the rest of the offerings are better as well.

The Ravens, of course, only have their history in Baltimore, making them a newer franchise. They have also found two long-time starters, so this ranking is mostly about them. Joe Flacco has had a good career, and he was good with the Ravens. Lamar Jackson is a two-time MVP, the best rushing quarterback in NFL history, and a future Hall of Famer. After that, only four other guys have made even 20 appearances for the franchise; the worst of the bunch is Kyle Boller, and he was actually only the starter for one season. Strongly in the top 10!

The Chargers get some early Brees, though not Peak Brees, so that helps. Justin Herbert hasn’t delivered fully on the promise, but he’s also been a really good quarterback. For 15 years, Philip Rivers was also a really good quarterback for the Chargers. He benefited from Pro Bowl bloat, but he is an eight-time Pro Bowler. All of that is before we get to Hall of Famer Dan Fouts. Or six-time Pro Bowler John Hadl. There’s depth for the Chargers.

The Broncos have depth as well, but they also have John Elway. Elway is an all-time great, and he spent his entire career with Denver. Second in franchise history in passing yards and passing touchdowns? Peyton Manning, who played four seasons with the franchise, one of which saw his arm fall off. In one of those seasons, though, he threw 55 touchdowns. You don’t really need much more than one of the 10-best quarterbacks in history and the best season for one of the five-best quarterbacks in history.

Troy Aikman is in the Hall of Fame because he was the quarterback of the Cowboys dynasty, not because of his play on the field. He was really good, but not great. The thing is, we would argue he is one of six really good quarterbacks to play at least 100 games for the Cowboys. Based on the franchise’s persona, you’d think this would be about star power. Instead, it’s about depth.

The top five is a step above. There is a definite gap. We start with the Patriots, which means starting with Tom Brady. Brady had the best career of any NFL quarterback. So how is this team fifth? Well, we must remember the years with the Buccaneers. Plus, while Drew Bledsoe was good and Drake Maye has had one strong season, the “supporting cast” isn’t as strong.

We said Brady has had the best career because the battle for who is the best quarterback in NFL history is trickier. Also, the best career isn't set in stone, because Patrick Mahomes is still playing. Mahomes may still be a step, or half-step, behind Brady, but he’s joined by Hall of Famer Len Dawson. Plus, Alex Smith and Trent Green had some strong seasons as well.

Mahomes and Dawson are an impressive combo. Peyton Manning and Johnny Unitas are more impressive. Even if you consider Mahomes and Manning neck and neck, three-time MVP Unitas was a better player than Dawson. Had Andrew Luck not retired so early, the Colts could have made a run for second, even first. Instead, they sit third.

Joe Montana and Steve Young are both Hall of Famers, though both are probably outside the top 10 at this point. That being said, they might both be in the top 15. There is more depth here, though, which puts the Niners in second. Y.A. Tittle won his MVP as a Giant, but he was a four-time Pro Bowler as a 49er. Brock Purdy is solid; Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith both had their moments, and Jeff Garcia was pretty good as well. Plus, have you heard of John Brodie, and do you know he was MVP in 1970? Yes, it would take quite the resume to beat this one.

…And the Packers have that resume. Hall of Famer Bart Starr spent his entire career with the Packers. Hall of Famer Brett Favre spent the bulk of his career with the Packers. Future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, the best quarterback of the three, to be honest, was also a longtime Packer. Even Jordan Love has been good since taking over as Green Bay’s starter. Yes, between Starr and Favre, there were down years. However, in 1992 Favre joined the Packers, made the Pro Bowl, and it’s basically been smooth sailing ever since. Who can compete with over 600 starts from three Hall of Fame quarterbacks?