Which NFL teams have had the best quarterback history?

Sure, we said this was about the average quality of quarterbacks, not a measure of quantity, and then we begin with the NFL’s youngest franchise. If C.J. Stroud keeps progressing, the Texans can move up. The problem for the Texans is that their first-ever pick was David Carr, a massive bust. Deshaun Watson was very good as a Texan, but he played three full seasons. Houston’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns? Matt Schaub.

Deshaun Watson flamed out for the Browns, a franchise famous for its lack of quarterback success. Otto Graham is a Hall of Famer, but he retired in 1955. The franchise’s peak is guys like Brian Sipe, Bernie Kosar, and Baker Mayfield. Mayfield, who had to leave Cleveland to revitalize his career. We have to mention Tim Couch, Brandon Weeden, Johnny Manziel, and on and on. Brian Sipe won MVP in 1980. That is arguably the only great season from a Cleveland quarterback since Graham retired.

If Trevor Lawrence eventually lives up to the hype, the Jaguars can move up this list. Brunell was good for the Jaguars in the early days of the franchise, but he was by no means remarkable. However, it’s Brunell, and the upside of Lawrence, that have gotten the Jaguars to 30th. After all, guys like Blake Bortles, Blaine Gabbert, and even Byron Leftwich didn’t pan out. Gardner Minshew was fun, though.

The Bears, like the Browns, are lamented for their quarterback history. As with Cleveland, with Chicago, the reference is Sid Luckman, but Luckman retired in 1950. The Bears are higher than the Browns, though, because Jay Cutler is better than most Browns quarterbacks, and because Jim McMahon helped lead the team to a Super Bowl.

The Cardinals, quietly, are one of the oldest NFL teams. It was founded as a franchise in 1920! Arizona has the lowest quarterback ceiling of any of these franchises, but has more B-to-B+ level quarterbacks than the Browns or Bears. If Kurt Warner or Carson Palmer had spent more of their career in the desert, they would be higher. Kyler Murray has also panned out better than any of the Jaguars' high picks to date.

Hey, Tom Brady only played 50 games for the Buccaneers! Don’t forget that! Jameis Winston is the franchise leader in passing yards and touchdowns (with plenty of interceptions as well, of course). Tampa is a franchise remembered for game managers like Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson. Vinny Testaverde started 76 games for the Bucs and threw more picks than touchdowns. If not for Brady’s brief run, the Buccaneers might have been last.

Joe Namath was a long time ago. However, we are at a point where the franchise histories are lackluster but not terrible. This is a franchise where Chad Pennington is still fondly remembered (and a top-five quarterback in its history). It’s where Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers didn’t really pan out. It’s where Mark Sanchez and Sam Darnold couldn’t build on any promise (and where Zach Wilson flamed out entirely). Also, Super Bowl III win or not, don’t forget Namath finished his career with more interceptions than touchdowns.

The Panthers were carried to 25th by one man: Steve Beuerlein. Or, you know, Cam Newton. At his peak, Newton was as good as any quarterback in the NFL. He won an MVP, and reasonably so. His style of play made it a brief peak, though, making it harder to have the Panthers any higher. Shout out to Jake Delhomme and Kerry Collins, though, for adding a bit to the resume.

With Russell Wilson scuffling toward the end of his career, it’s easy to forget how good he was during his heyday with the Seahawks. The team won one Super Bowl, and came very close to a second. After Russ, it’s a few fun seasons of Geno Smith and a couple good years with Warren Moon. Remember Matt Hasselbeck? He was solid! And sure, Rick Mirer didn’t pan out, but the Seahawks have gotten by for the most part.

At this level, we arrive at “Things aren’t that bad” territory. Although that is a relatively new development in Detroit. Before the Lions drafted Matthew Stafford, they would have been a candidate for the bottom three. Stafford is headed to the Hall of Fame, though, and he spent many years playing well for the Lions. Jared Goff has been good for them as well. Throw in an old-school star like Bobby Layne, and it balances out the Joey Harringtons and the Dan Orlovskys of the world.

If Jayden Daniels is able to build upon his rookie campaign, Washington could definitely move up this list. Both Joe Theismann and Robert Griffin III suffered injuries that hampered the quarterback's resume of the franchise as well. Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen had his best season with the Eagles, and Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh started his career in 1937, so this is a franchise that arguably lacks a signature, iconic quarterback.

Michael Vick was a lot of fun on the field, but he also was built for highlight reels. As an overall player, though, he didn’t live up to the hype. Matt Ryan is the franchise’s best quarterback, and he’s a fringe Hall of Famer. Chris Chandler also had a few good years. There are a few quibbles to be found, but the Falcons are below average among franchises.

Lamar Jackson is a great quarterback who doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring. Joe Flacco is a pretty good quarterback who has a ring. They carry the Ravens franchise, but they carried them reasonably far by getting into the top 20. After all, they have to counterbalance Kyle Boller and the last days of Steve McNair’s career.

Eli Manning is the perfect face of a franchise that is 19th in these rankings. He may end up in the Hall because he has two rings, but he was never a great quarterback. He never sniffed an MVP. If you remember your old-school names, you may be thinking, “Ah, but what about Y.A. Tittle?” Tittle, in addition to having a fun name, was great with the Giants. He also only spent four seasons with them.

We’d say we’ve hit the tier of pretty good, and you might be surprised to see the Steelers kicking off that level. However, the franchise’s quarterback history is not incredible by any means. Ben Roethlisberger is far and away the most successful quarterback in Steelers history. He was never one of the two or three best quarterbacks in the NFL. Terry Bradshaw has four rings but…was a bit overrated. A bit! It was a different era, we know, but he completed 51.9 percent of his passes with almost as many interceptions as touchdowns.

And now, onto the other side of Pennsylvania. There are a lot of solid guys for the Eagles, but nobody who was a true great. Donovan McNabb? Excellent career, but not at that level. Randall Cunningham? A lot of fun, but no threat to make the Hall. That seems to be the trajectory of Jalen Hurts as well, so the Eagles may not rise much over the rest of his career.

Drew Brees. It’s all about Drew Brees. Brees is second in career passing yards and career passing touchdowns, and did most of it as a Saint. He’s definitely one of the top-10 quarterbacks in NFL history, and possibly in the top five. Most franchises have never had a quarterback as good as Brees. The second-best Saints quarterback is Aaron Brooks. That’s why they can’t be any higher.

This is definitely the case of a franchise that has spent a lot of time with solid quarterbacks. Derek Carr is the franchise leader in passing yards and touchdowns. Ken Stabler is a Hall of Famer, though, and he and Carr combine for over 170 regular-season starts. Rich Gannon won an MVP with the Raiders. Daryle Lamonica, Jim Plunkett, Jeff Hostetler, even a surprisingly solid run for Jeff George. There’s little to complain about here, but nothing that wows us. Plus, JaMarcus Russell cost the Raiders, but at least they gave up on him quickly.

As mediocre as Vince Young turned out, Ryan Tannehill was surprisingly good! We mentioned the Ravens getting end-of-the-line Steve McNair, but the Titans got MVP-winning McNair. The Titans, back when they were the Houston Oilers, also got some of the best years of Warren Moon’s career. Cam Ward, 2025’s first-overall pick, will play a role in whether the Titans move up or down a few years from now.

We’ve hit the good ones now. These are impressive lineages in terms of signal callers. There were a couple of incredible seasons from Randall Cunningham, of course, but then just a bunch of guys having fine years. Daunte Culpepper, Brad Johnson, Kirk Cousins, and the underrated Tommy Kramer. Even Brett Favre was good with the Vikings, as opposed to the Jets. Of course, we also need to mention Fran Tarkenton, the best quarterback in franchise history. The Vikings’ resume is built on B-level quarterbacks, but Tarkenton definitely bolsters things.

Kurt Warner was incredible with the Rams, and he was an incredible story. He only made 53 starts, though. In our measurement of peak, he delivers, but he’s all about his peak. There’s also Matthew Stafford, who helped lead the franchise to a Super Bowl to bolster his Hall of Fame resume. The franchise’s leader in passing yards is Jim Everett, and the leader in passing touchdowns is Roman Gabriel. The two seasons in which Warner was one of the best quarterbacks we’ve ever seen are great, but the rest of the guys only get the Rams here.

For all their years of futility, the Bengals are still on the fringes of the top 10. Joe Burrow has been stellar thus far. Carson Palmer, Boomer Esiason, Andy Dalton, and Ken Anderson were all quite good. Jeff Blake was pretty good there for a bit. Even Jon Kitna had a couple good seasons. Maybe we are buying too much into Burrow’s resume to this point, but the Bengals are underrated at quarterback.

As with the Saints, the Dolphins are largely bolstered by one man. In this case, Dan Marino. The difference is that the Dolphins have a better supporting cast behind Marino than the Saints do behind Brees. Bob Griese has two rings and made eight Pro Bowls. Ryan Tannehill was quite good in Miami as well. Even though Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t fully panned out, Marino as number one, followed by Griese at number two, helped get the franchise into the top 10.

The Bills will quick off the really good, on the verge of great, tier. Jim Kelly had a great career, went to four Super Bowls, and is in the Hall of Fame. Josh Allen is on the trajectory to have an even better career (on the trajectory, we did say). He has an MVP to his name already. Tyrod Taylor was quietly good, and Ryan Fitzpatrick and Doug Flutie had some of their best years in Buffalo. Drew Bledsoe didn’t, but he was solid. The second-level players for the Bills got them this high, surpassing Marino and the Dolphins.

Philip Rivers and Dan Fouts are in the running as the best quarterbacks never to play in a Super Bowl. They both spent the bulk of their careers for the Chargers. Not ideal, but they both had great careers. Drew Brees’ best years were as a Saint, but he had two good seasons as a Charger. John Hadl made five of his six Pro Bowls as a Charger, so he generally overlooked. Then, there’s current quarterback Justin Herbert, who is currently on the trajectory to be one of the best quarterbacks to never play in the Super Bowl. Hey, it’s the way of the Chargers!

The Broncos are close to being one of the great franchise resumes, but they may settle in as the best of the very good resumes. Yes, the Broncos have had John Elway and Peyton Manning, two top-10 guys all-time. Elway was a career Bronco, but Manning spent only four seasons with the franchise. Granted, one of those was one of the best seasons a quarterback has ever had, but his last season was brutal. Russell Wilson had a couple of good years, but the reason we didn’t quite go up to “great” is because Jake Plummer, Kyle Orton, Brian Griese, Jay Cutler, and the like just weren’t enough support behind Elway and three good seasons of Peyton.

There is no quibbling with the Chiefs being great. They have an old-school great in Len Dawson and a new-school great in Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is the best quarterback of his generation and is easily heading toward being in the top five of all-time. On top of them, though, Alex Smith and Trent Green were both quite good. Throw in a couple of decent years from Joe Montana, and the Chiefs have a great QB history. Not top five, though.

It’s fitting that Troy Aikman is a bit overrated and Tony Romo is a bit underrated. Those two balance each other out. It’s the depth with the Cowboys. Nobody is a top-10 quarterback of all-time, but the franchise’s top six is rounded out by Roger Staubach (a Hall of Famer), Danny White, Don Meredith, and Dak Prescott. There has been little time since 1960 when the Cowboys’ starting quarterback wasn’t a really good player.

When the best quarterback in NFL history started 285 games for you and helped you win six Super Bowls, you will be in the top five. When the rest of your franchise history is limited, you often end up in fourth place. Basically, the Patriots are Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe went to three Pro Bowls as a Patriot, so he was a solid quarterback. As the franchise’s second-best quarterback, though, he limits the Patriots’ upside.

The top three all have the argument to be number one. Had Andrew Luck not retired so abruptly, maybe the Colts would be first, or at least second. Two Hall of Famers, arguably two top-10 quarterbacks, combined to make over 200 starts for the Colts. Those two would be Peyton Manning and Johnny Unitas. Bert Jones was no slouch, either! He won an MVP. That wasn’t enough to get the Colts above third, though.

Brock Purdy has been solid, but you know the driving force behind the 49ers being second. We speak, of course, of Y.A. Tittle. No, of course we’re talking about Joe Montana and Steve Young. Montana was minted as an all-timer but the Niners still felt comfortable moving on from him because Young was there. Beyond their one-two punch, the Niners have a decidedly deeper collection of quarterbacks than the Colts. San Fran has to settle for second, though. Two is less than three, after all.

Bart Starr. Brett Favre. Aaron Rodgers. Do we need to say more? We will, of course. The Packers have three Hall of Famers, three true greats, who played in at least 196 games for the franchise. That would be sufficient, especially since from 1992 until 2022, the Packers had Favre or Rodgers as the starting quarterback. However, Jordan Love looks like another hit for Green Bay. Maybe he’s not a fourth Hall of Famer, but Love is carrying the torch quite well for the franchise with the best quarterback history.