QB uncertainty for half the NFL next offseason? 16 situations to watch and possible outcomes

While everyone else is predicting who's going to start at quarterback for various teams next month, we're looking beyond this entire 2026 NFL season to figure out where the QB questions are going to be next year. Several of the NFL's teams are entering critical seasons with their quarterback situations. Some have no idea how they'll make it through this season with what they have on the roster. Some feel confident about this season but don't know how things will shake out for 2027. The smart teams are thinking ahead, even as they prepare for 2026. So every year, we try to pick a dozen or so teams whose long-term QB situations appear to be in flux and examine what's most likely to happen in the short and long terms. We try to stay away from situations in which contracts make change extremely unlikely. For example, you might say this is an important year for Dak Prescott to break through in the postseason for Dallas. And in some ways you might be right. But in terms of Prescott's long-term future with the team, that is not the case. He's signed through 2028, he has $45 million in fully guaranteed salary for 2027, and various restructures have created a dead-money situation that makes him virtually uncuttable or untradeable. He's not on this year's list. Lamar Jackson wasn't on last year's list, because at the time he had three years left on his contract with the Ravens, and there wasn't any doubt he'd be on the team in 2026. This year, however, he has two years left on his deal. And while the Ravens said they wanted to get him extended this offseason, they could not reach an agreement. That ratchets up the uncertainty on Jackson for 2027 and beyond, so we included him just to flag the circumstances and examine them a bit. If Jackson signs a new extension with the Ravens in the next few days, things change. But unless and until that extension gets done, we have license to wonder. That's just a fact. Last year we started with Arizona ... and we're starting there again. Jump to a team: ARI | ATL | BAL | CAR | CLE | DET HOU | IND | LAR | MIA | MIN | NYJ PHI | PIT | SEA | TB Arizona Cardinals Current starter: Jacoby Brissett Signed through: 2026 The Cardinals have a new head coach in former Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. He inherits Brissett, who finished the 2025 season as Arizona's starter and played well under previous offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. But Brissett and the Cardinals spent the spring and summer in a contract standoff that resulted in a roughly $10 million raise over the roughly $5 million he had been scheduled to make this season under his previous deal. The team also signed seven-year NFL veteran Gardner Minshew II in free agency and drafted former Georgia/Miami quarterback Carson Beck with the first pick of the third round of this year's NFL draft. Of those three options, the only one under contract beyond 2026 is Beck, who played well in the Cardinals' first preseason game before sitting out the second because of a rib injury. The Cardinals have won four or fewer games in three of their past four seasons and are projected for the second-lowest win total (5) in ESPN's Football Power Index projections for 2026. Most likely outcome: They start the season with Brissett and struggle. They switch to Beck at some point during the season to give him an audition and find out whether he can be part of the long-term solution. They secure a very high pick in the 2027 draft and use it on one of the highly touted quarterbacks in that class -- someone they believe can be a franchise cornerstone. Long-shot outcome: Some combination of Brissett and Beck keeps the Cardinals competitive, even in a division where the other three teams each won at least 12 games last season (and one won the Super Bowl). They don't end up with a high draft pick, and they see enough from Beck to to open 2027 with him as the starter. Atlanta Falcons Current starter: Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr. Signed through: Tagovailoa, 2026; Penix, 2027 plus a team option for 2028 The Falcons are ostensibly having a competition this summer for their starting job between Penix, who was the eighth pick in the 2024 draft, and Tagovailoa, who was released by the Dolphins this offseason. The Falcons were able to sign Tagovailoa for a veterans minimum salary because the Dolphins are on the hook for nearly $55 million in guaranteed salary for this year. Penix was their starter at the beginning of 2025 but is coming off a torn ACL. Because Penix hasn't been cleared for 11-on-11 team drills, this "competition" hasn't really gotten off the ground. And unless Penix gets out there soon, Tagovailoa will become the Week 1 starter by default. Tagovailoa wasn't good in the Falcons' first preseason game last weekend, but the new coaching staff under Kevin Stefanski likes his fit in the offense and believes Atlanta can get him ready in time for Week 1. No matter what happens, though, there's uncertainty beyond this season. Tagovailoa signed for only one year. Unlike Kyler Murray, who was in a similar situation when Arizona cut him with guaranteed money left on his deal and signed with Minnesota, Tagovailoa doesn't have a clause in his contract prohibiting his new team from using its franchise tag on him after this season. So if he played well and the Falcons wanted to keep him, they could -- but they aren't committed to it. As for Penix, the Falcons have to decide by the first week of May 2027 whether to pick up (and fully guarantee) his option for 2028. They'll need more information than they currently have on him before making that decision. Ideally, they'll see him play at some point this season. It's also worth noting that both of these players have significant injury histories. Tagovailoa has missed 20 games because of injury over the course of his six-year NFL career, and Penix suffered four season-ending injuries during his college career and then another last year in the NFL. Most likely outcome: Tagovailoa starts the season but struggles with health and/or performance, and the Falcons turn to Penix once he is healthy to continue their assessment of whether he can be their long-term answer. The new front office and coaching staff that took over following the 2025 season selects a QB early in the 2027 draft, either to develop behind Penix or to replace him if Atlanta has decided he isn't the answer. Long-shot outcome: Tagovailoa turns out to be an excellent fit for Stefanski's offense and has a good year. The Falcons win the NFC South for the first time since 2016 and make the playoffs for the first time since 2017. After the season, the Falcons and Tagovailoa agree on a Daniel Jones- or Baker Mayfield-style contract extension that keeps him there a couple of years more. Baltimore Ravens Current starter: Lamar Jackson Signed through: 2027 Two-time league MVP Jackson is making $52 million this year and $52 million in 2027, though none of the 2027 money is guaranteed. His contract contains void years in 2028 through 2030 for cap accounting purposes, but it voids after the 2027 season. It also includes a no-trade clause and a clause prohibiting the team from designating him its franchise or transition player. So if Jackson plays out the current deal and doesn't extend it, he'll hit free agency in March 2028, and the Ravens wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. Baltimore tried to do an extension with Jackson this spring in an effort to lower his 2026 cap hit, but it was unable to get a deal done. So it ended up lowering that cap hit by about $40 million through a simple restructure. As a result, his cap hit for 2027 is now projected to be $84.3 million, which means the Ravens have to either extend him or restructure the contract again next spring in order to save cap room. Jackson is coming off a down year by his own lofty standards, as he missed four games because of injury, and his 62.7 QBR was the second lowest he has posted in any season since his 2018 rookie year. The Ravens finished under .500, missed the playoffs and fired longtime head coach John Harbaugh. The new head coach is former Chargers defensive coordinator Jessie Minter, who brought in first-time offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. Jackson, according to multiple sources, has been all-in this offseason, showing an enthusiasm for Doyle's offense and what he can do in it. Again, he could sign a contract extension any day now. We just don't know. Most likely outcome: Jackson stays healthy and has a great year under Minter and Doyle. The Ravens return to the playoffs, everyone's feeling good and refreshed, and Jackson and the team get together next spring to do a brand-new contract extension that makes Jackson the highest-paid quarterback in the league. All of this worry turns out to have been for nothing. Long-shot outcome: The season doesn't go the way Jackson or the Ravens hoped, and extension talks next spring get testy. Armed with the leverage of the no-franchise-tag clause, Jackson drives a hard bargain, and the Ravens decide they don't want to meet his price. They're forced to decide whether to let him play out the final year of his contract and hit free agency in 2028, or to trade him before 2027. Even in this latter case, Jackson would still hold the cards; he has that no-trade clause and could dictate his preferred destination. Carolina Panthers Current starter: Bryce Young Signed through: 2027 The Panthers picked up Young's 2027 fifth-year option for the price of $25.9 million -- a no-brainer because it means they have to pay him a total of only $32 million over the next two seasons. What comes next for the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft is the question. Young was eligible for an extension this offseason, but he still doesn't have one, and indications are the team wants to see continued development in 2026 before deciding what to do long term. The Panthers aren't the only team taking this approach (see: Houston Texans, a little further down this list), but it does result in some level of uncertainty when we talk about what's to come after this season. Young has shown a lot of improvement since being benched early in the 2024 season, and he played well down the stretch last season as the Panthers won the NFC South and lost a close game to the Rams in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Both publicly and behind the scenes, the Panthers have maintained their belief in Young and focused their past two offseasons on finding ways to build out the group around him to give him the best possible chance to be successful. If Young and Carolina each take another step forward in 2026, extension talks should get serious next spring. Most likely outcome: The Panthers have a season similar to 2025 (maybe a little bit better) but miss the playoffs because their division got stronger around them. Young continues to show signs that he can be the guy, and without another obvious option, the Panthers extend him next spring with a contract that falls closer to the Daniel Jones range in terms of average annual salary than it does to the Dak Prescott tier. Long-shot outcome: Young and the Panthers take a massive leap forward, winning the division for the second year in a row (with a winning record this time), and Young breaks the bank next summer with a contract extension that places him among the highest-paid players in the league. Cleveland Browns Current starter: Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders Signed through: Watson, 2026; Sanders, 2028 Watson has finally arrived at the fifth and final season of one of the worst contracts in NFL history -- the fully guaranteed $230 million deal the Browns gave him when they traded three first-round picks to Houston to get him in 2022. He has played a grand total of 19 games over the first four years of the contract, and not a single one since tearing his Achilles in October 2024. The Browns have restructured his contract every year for cap space, which means that if he plays out this season and they don't re-sign him, they'd be dealing with $86.2 million in dead money either next year or split up over the next two years. Watson has as many touchdown passes (19) as games played with Cleveland, and the team is 26-42 since acquiring him (9-10 in games he started for them). Sanders, meanwhile, started the Browns' final seven games as a rookie last season, throwing seven touchdown passes to 10 interceptions, posting an abysmal 18.9 QBR and going 3-4. He has been a lightning rod of debate since before he was drafted; many projected him to be a first-round pick, and his slide into the fifth round spawned countless theories and arguments that are still raging 16 months later. Watson has shown new head coach Todd Monken and his staff this offseason that he's healthy and can run the offense. Sanders has shown growth throughout the spring and summer, and he has impressed Monken with his improvement since the spring. Watson started the team's first preseason game last week, and Monken has said Sanders will get the opportunity to start this weekend's game against the Bills before the team decides which of them will start in Week 1. Most likely outcome: Watson opens the season as the starter, the team loses a lot of games, and Sanders takes over at some point. The Browns finish with one of the worst records in the league, and neither of these guys is in the mix to be their 2027 starter. Armed with two first-round picks, the Browns secure one of the top quarterbacks in the draft and reset once again at the position, hoping they've finally found their long-term answer. Long-shot outcome: Watson struggles early, leading to Sanders taking over. He plays well and leads the Browns into playoff contention, costing them a chance to pick high in the first round. (Their other first-rounder is the Rams' pick, which we also don't expect to be high.) The Browns go into the 2027 offseason trying to figure out whether Sanders has shown enough to be their long-term starter or whether they need to bring in competition for him. And in the end, they continue to wander the QB wilderness as they have all century. Detroit Lions Current starter: Jared Goff Signed through: 2028 Goff has been everything the Lions hoped and more since they acquired him as part of the Matthew Stafford trade following the 2020 season. He missed three games in his first season in Detroit but has started every game since -- and the Lions are 48-33-1 when Goff starts. They've had a winning record in each of the past four seasons, and they won the NFC North in 2023 (12-5) and 2024 (15-2). But they dropped to 9-8 last season and missed the playoffs. Goff is making $55 million this season. He's scheduled to earn $40 million in 2027, of which $18 million is already guaranteed. None of his $47 million compensation for 2028 is guaranteed. And Detroit's backups at the moment are veteran Joshua Dobbs and undrafted rookie Luke Altmyer. Most likely outcome: The Lions, with a stacked roster and a soft-looking schedule, bounce back to the top of the division and make a playoff run behind Goff and their elite offense. Next offseason, they elect to keep Goff on his current contract and push off a possible extension to the 2028 offseason. Maybe they look to the draft for a developmental prospect, but at age 32 and still playing well, Goff remains their best and preferred option. Long-shot outcome: The defensive injuries are too much to overcome, and Goff and the offense hit a snag. The Lions fail to take advantage of that soft schedule and miss the playoffs for the second year in a row. Frustrated by their inability to cash in on what seemed like a Super Bowl window, the Lions decide to break things up. They move on from Goff and bring in a veteran whose situation elsewhere fell apart, such as Baker Mayfield or Jalen Hurts. Houston Texans Current starter: C.J. Stroud Signed through: 2027 Much of what we wrote about Bryce Young in the Panthers section above also applies here. Stroud was the second pick of the 2023 draft, and he is eligible for an extension for the first time this offseason. But the Texans, who are as aggressive as any team in the league with their veteran contract extensions, have not given him one. They did pick up his 2027 fifth-year option because it made sense, but they also seem to want to see more before handing him a long-term commitment. It's easy to see both sides. Stroud was Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023. He led the Texans to the second round of the playoffs in each of his first three seasons. Including the postseason, the Texans are 31-21 in games he has started. There are quarterbacks who got top-of-market extensions to their rookie deals having accomplished far less than Stroud. However, he has yet to repeat the outstanding performance of his rookie season, and he missed three games last season because of injury. Plus, his play in the Texans' two playoff games was detrimental. He had an interception and five fumbles (two lost) in Houston's wild-card victory over Pittsburgh, then he threw four interceptions the following week in a season-ending loss at New England. The Texans have an elite championship-caliber defense. They have a deep and talented group of receivers, even after Jayden Higgins tore an ACL this week. They have continuity on the offensive line for the first time in Stroud's career, and the addition of David Montgomery this offseason has them believing they can also give Stroud a competent run game for the first time. This shapes up as a critical year for Stroud's future in Houston, and he appears to have what he needs to put the disappointment of last season behind him. Most likely outcome: The Texans are strong playoff contenders, maybe even winning their division for the third time in four years since drafting Stroud. He rebounds and looks more like his rookie self than his January 2026 self. Houston rewards him next year with a long-term contract extension. Long-shot outcome: Stroud totally flops in Year 4. Either because of injury or ineffectiveness, he finishes the season on the bench as Davis Mills steps in to replace him. Houston misses the playoffs and brings in someone else -- either a draft pick or a free agent -- to compete with Stroud in camp in 2027 as the extension talks remain on hold. Indianapolis Colts Current starter: Daniel Jones Signed through: 2027 A former Giants first-round pick, Jones signed with the Colts ahead of the 2025 season and played lights out. Through the first 10 weeks of the season, the Colts were 8-2 and had one of the best offenses in the league. Jones was winning with his arm and his legs, and things looked fantastic. Then, as he seemingly always has, Jones got hurt. At first, he played through a significant leg injury, and his performance suffered. Then in Week 14, Jones tore an Achilles tendon and had to miss the rest of the season. The Colts lost their final seven games of the season to finish 8-9 and miss the playoffs. However, Jones is back surprisingly quick. He has been a full participant in training camp practices, and reports out of Indianapolis say he's playing and moving as if nothing ever happened. All signs point to him being ready to start the season, and the Colts re-signed him to a two-year, $88 million contract this offseason because they believe he can again do what he did over the first half of last season and make them contenders. Jones' deal included a $44 million signing bonus and $5.5 million in 2026 salary. He's slated to make another $38 million if he's on the team in 2027, but of that money, none is fully guaranteed and only about $10.5 million is guaranteed against injury. So, if the Colts wanted to cut a healthy Jones after this season, they'd have paid him $49.5 million for one year. If he were injured and the team wanted to cut him, he'd have cost $60 million for one season. Not ideal, certainly, but if things go badly and the Colts identify a better option in the offseason, they can work around it. Most likely outcome: I hate to say a thing like this, and we all hope it doesn't happen, but Jones' history tells us the most likely outcome is that he misses time again. Jones has played 16 games in a season exactly once in his seven-year career. He has had leg and neck injuries, and he's currently coming back from the extremely serious injury he suffered in December. Obviously everyone hopes he gets through the season healthy, but he almost never does. So, the most likely outcome is that Jones is in and out of the lineup throughout the season, and the Colts have to decide next offseason whether to bring him back or move on. Their final win-loss record, and whatever decisions ownership makes about the futures of the coaching staff and the front office, will likely determine Jones' future in Indianapolis. Long-shot outcome: Last season's first half was not a mirage. Jones completes a fully healthy season for the first time since 2022. The Colts win their division for the first time since 2014, and they give Jones a longer extension worth more than $50 million per year. Los Angeles Rams Current starter: Matthew Stafford Signed through: 2027 Stafford is 38 years old and turns 39 one week before the Super Bowl -- which the Rams are currently favored to win. He is the reigning league MVP, and he got a contract extension this offseason that ties him to the Rams through 2027 and guarantees him $40 million this year and $50 million next year. So ... why are the Rams in this piece? Well, again, because he's 38 years old, and he's going to take some time to decide whether he wants to keep playing each offseason from here on out. By all accounts, Stafford is healthy, rejuvenated and thinking about playing two more years. But he also has a degenerative back condition, has already won a Super Bowl and has made more money than he could ever possibly need. Stafford walking away after this coming season would not be the biggest shock in NFL history. And the Rams know they don't have much longer with Stafford, which is why they used their 2026 first-round pick on quarterback Ty Simpson. Most likely outcome: The Rams have the awesome season everyone is expecting of them after the splashy acquisition of Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and the looming possible addition of Aaron Donald. Maybe they win the Super Bowl, maybe they fall just short. But either way, Stafford gets to the end of the season feeling fine and decides to play again in 2027. Long-shot outcome: The Rams flop. Health issues plague Stafford and several of the other older stars on the roster. The Rams fall well short of the Super Bowl. Star wideout Puka Nacua never gets his contract extension, and the offseason opens with questions about whether he'll leave in free agency. The Sean McVay TV rumors percolate again. And a banged-up Stafford decides it's all too much and walks away with that one year left on his contract. Miami Dolphins Current starter: Malik Willis Signed through: 2028 Everything is new in Miami. The new GM (Jon-Eric Sullivan) and new head coach (Jeff Hafley) both come from Green Bay, where Willis was the backup quarterback to Jordan Love the past two years and played well when Love was hurt. They signed Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million contract, of which $45 million is guaranteed (including $21.5 million in 2027 salary). Willis is, however, still a speculative play. He has started a total of six NFL games across four seasons since the Titans selected him in the third round of the 2022 draft. He has plenty of talent, and the time spent in Green Bay with Matt LaFleur and that staff seemed to improve his game in many ways. But neither we nor the Dolphins know for sure whether he can hold up as a full-season starter. Add to that the fact that the Dolphins stripped down their roster a fair bit this offseason, including trading away receiver Jaylen Waddle and releasing receiver Tyreek Hill. Willis is left with an inexperienced receiving corps and a rebuilding team that's projected for a league-low 4.8 wins, according to ESPN's Football Power Index. If he flops, sure, that $21.5 million guarantee in 2027 won't be fun. But the Dolphins are taking massive dead-money cap hits this season in order to keep the books clean for future years. If Willis shows he's not up to this, moving on from him (or just benching him) in 2027 wouldn't be financially prohibitive. Most likely outcome: The Dolphins finish as one of the worst teams in the league, and while Willis has his moments, he doesn't do enough to dissuade them from picking one of the star quarterbacks in the 2027 draft class. Long-shot outcome: The season ends, and Lamar Jackson still doesn't have that contract extension with Baltimore. Negotiations between Jackson and the Ravens get ugly again, and Baltimore trades him to his hometown Dolphins next March. Minnesota Vikings Current starter: Kyler Murray Signed through: 2026 If you're the kind of person who reads articles like this, you probably don't need too much of a refresher on the Vikings' quarterback situation. After 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy flopped in his first year as a starter, the Vikings brought in Murray, who was cut by the Cardinals. Because Arizona owed Murray about $37 million in guaranteed money, Minnesota signed him for a one-year, league-minimum contract. Murray's agent did, however, negotiate a clause into the deal that prohibits the Vikings from using the franchise or transition tag on Murray next offseason. So, if he plays well and the Vikings want to keep him around, they're going to have to fight off other teams to do it. McCarthy, meanwhile, is signed through 2027. The team holds an option for 2028, but unless McCarthy finds his way into enough games and plays well in them in 2026, it's hard to see on what basis they could pick that up. The team also brought back veteran Carson Wentz, who could be a candidate to back up Murray depending on what McCarthy is showing in practice. But Wentz is signed through only 2026. After this year, Minnesota's QB situation looks completely wide open. Most likely outcome: As with every quarterback other than McCarthy who has played for Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota, Murray plays well and has the Vikings in playoff contention. Haunted by the memory of what happened after they let Sam Darnold leave as a free agent following the 2024 season, the Vikings make a strong push to re-sign Murray to a long-term deal ahead of his free agency. Long-shot outcome: Murray gets hurt and/or struggles. McCarthy steps in to replace him, and a light goes on. McCarthy plays the way the Vikings hoped he would when they drafted him, and Minnesota picks up his fifth-year option and confidently anoints him the starter for 2027. New York Jets Current starter: Geno Smith Signed through: 2026 After last year's failed Justin Fields experiment, the Jets traded for Smith, their own long-ago draft pick who's coming off a down year with the Raiders. Smith turns 36 in October and is a placeholder for whoever turns out to be the Jets' quarterback of the future. On that front, they drafted Cade Klubnik in the third round in April, but they also have three first-round picks in next year's QB-rich draft. Like the Browns, the Jets are another franchise that has been wandering the QB wilderness for as long as most people can remember. As Aaron Glenn enters his second year as head coach, he needs to do some winning in order to establish a culture and prove he's capable of handling the job long term. Smith had some good years in Seattle before he and the rest of the Raiders bottomed out on offense last season, and the Jets hope that he can bounce back in their system behind a better offensive line and with skill-position players such as Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. But whatever Smith does this season isn't likely to deter the Jets from their mission of finding the long-term answer at the position in next year's draft. Most likely outcome: The Jets are better than they were in 2025. Smith shows that it was the Raiders' dysfunction and Chip Kelly's offense that held him back, and he looks more like his Seattle self. But once they fall out of contention, the Jets turn to Klubnik to evaluate his potential place in their future plans. They win somewhere between six and eight games, and Glenn gets another year as head coach. The Jets maneuver with their trove of picks to select the quarterback they like the best. Long-shot outcome: Klubnik comes on quickly in practice and overtakes Smith early in the season. He plays well, and the Jets hang in the wild-card race into December. Picking too low in the first round to get (or even trade up for) one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the draft, they use their early-round picks to bolster the roster around Klubnik and go into 2027 with him as the starter. Philadelphia Eagles Current starter: Jalen Hurts Signed through: 2028 We are 18 months removed from Hurts winning the Super Bowl MVP award for the Eagles. It seems preposterous to put him on this list, and maybe it is. But Philadelphia sports can bend toward the preposterous at times, and last season was a complete mess for Hurts and the Eagles' offense. Philly ranked 24th in total offense and 19th in scoring. Top receiver A.J. Brown clearly had enough, and things reached the point where the Eagles ended up trading him to the Patriots. They fired offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo and replaced him with the very inexperienced Sean Mannion, who has never been a coordinator before and has only two years of coaching experience at any level. (He was an assistant on Matt LaFleur's Packers staff the past two seasons and an active player on the Vikings/Seahawks as recently as 2023.) In April, ESPN published a story about the Eagles' offensive struggles in which anonymous team sources were critical of Hurts' performance, his attitude and his role in those struggles. With Patullo and Brown gone, it seems like this is an important year for Hurts to show he can shrug off the internal criticism and consistently be the leader and on-field performer he was in leading Philly to that Super Bowl title not so long ago. Hurts has three years left on his contract. He's guaranteed $51.5 million this season, $22 million in 2027 and nothing in 2028. The Eagles have shown in the past that they aren't afraid to take a big dead-money hit and move on from a key player -- even a quarterback -- if they think he has taken them as far as he can. Heck, that's how Hurts got his job in the first place, once the Eagles decided they were done with Carson Wentz. Philadelphia has just one first-round pick next year but two in 2028 as a result of the Brown trade, so it does have some resources available if it wants to go after a QB next offseason. Most likely outcome: This team still seems too good to flop completely, even with all the changes. The offensive line is healthy and still one of the best in the league on paper. Running back Saquon Barkley is still there, as is receiver DeVonta Smith. There might be some growing pains early on as everyone gets used to Mannion and his system (and while Mannion gets comfortable in his new role), but Hurts is too tough and too driven to crumble under all of this. The most probable outcome is that he bounces back, the Eagles' offense has a strong enough year to complement a great defense and the team enters the postseason as one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl. If that happens, we'll be talking about another Hurts extension next spring. Long-shot outcome: It all falls apart. Mannion isn't up to the task, Hurts doesn't take to the new offense, and the O-line feels the effects of the departure of longtime Eagles OL coach Jeff Stoutland. Tanner McKee gets some starts late in the season. The Eagles miss the playoffs despite their excellent defense. They change offensive coordinators again and decide to move on from Hurts via trade, the way they did with Wentz in 2021. Pittsburgh Steelers Current starter: Aaron Rodgers Signed through: 2026 Rodgers started 16 of the Steelers' 17 regular-season games in 2025 (plus their playoff game). He played fine, finishing 23rd in the league in QBR, which is where he has mostly settled over the past four years. It seemed like it might be his final season in the NFL, especially once the Steelers and longtime coach Mike Tomlin parted ways in January. But after Pittsburgh hired Rodgers' former Packers coach, Mike McCarthy, to replace Tomlin, the future Hall of Famer decided to come back for one more year. He will turn 43 in December and has said this will definitely be his final season in the NFL. That means, of course, he is not the Steelers' long-term answer at quarterback and that they'll need a new one for 2027. Longtime backup Mason Rudolph is still on the roster and would presumably fill in should something happen to Rodgers early in the season. But Pittsburgh also has a pair of intriguing young quarterbacks in 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard and 2026 third-round pick Drew Allar. Allar stole the show in the Steelers' first preseason game, and reports out of Pittsburgh indicate that McCarthy has already done great work on improving the quarterback's footwork and some of the other mechanical issues that were viewed as drawbacks during the predraft process. One of the reasons the Steelers brought in McCarthy was because they believe he has a strong record of developing young quarterbacks and know they're going to need to do that at some point very soon. McCarthy gets a year with Allar and Howard to find out whether they can potentially be part of the post-Rodgers solution. (People there also have praised Rodgers' role as a mentor for the young signal-callers.) Most likely outcome: Rodgers plays the same way he did in 2025. The Steelers win their usual nine or 10 games. Maybe they make the playoffs, maybe they don't. Rodgers rides off into the sunset, and the Steelers are left to evaluate Allar, Howard and potential 2027 draft picks as their long-term solution. Long-shot outcome: It turns out it was Tomlin who was holding the whole program together, and without him the Steelers collapse and suffer their first losing season since 2003. Things go badly enough that one or both of the young guys get a start or two toward the end of the season, and Pittsburgh ends up with a high enough draft pick that it can think about picking a quarterback in the first round. Seattle Seahawks Current starter: Sam Darnold Signed through: 2027 After leading Minnesota to a 14-win season in 2024, Darnold signed with the Seahawks in free agency and promptly led them to a 14-win season and a Super Bowl title. Darnold's deal with Seattle was for three years and $100.5 million (though he padded that by earning $4 million in incentives last season). So, he has two years left on that deal. He's scheduled to make $27.5 million this season and $35.5 million in 2027, though none of the 2027 money is guaranteed. The Seahawks made no move to extend Darnold's contract this offseason, which tells us they believe he's appropriately compensated. But another big year -- especially if it comes with more postseason success -- could prompt them to rethink things next offseason when Darnold would be heading into the final year of his deal. The Seahawks did lose offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who's now the head coach of the Raiders, but they replaced him with former 49ers assistant Brian Fleury, who worked with Darnold in 2023 when the QB spent the season on San Francisco's roster as Brock Purdy's backup. Most likely outcome: The Seahawks have another excellent year. Back-to-back Super Bowl titles always seems like a long shot, but Seattle's roster and program are set up well for continued success, and Darnold is obviously in a great place in his career. He just turned 29 in June, and there's no reason to think the past two years were any kind of fluke. So, the most likely outcome is that Darnold and the Seahawks play well again and at least contend for another title. Assuming that happens, Seattle and Darnold will have conversations about an extension next spring. The question will be whether Darnold wants to break the bank and get paid at the top of the market, in which case Seattle could decide to look elsewhere, as it did when it believed Russell Wilson and Geno Smith were asking for more than they were worth. Long-shot outcome: Darnold and/or the team struggle. The Seahawks turn to 2025 third-round pick Jalen Milroe late in the season to see what he's got. They miss the playoffs and decide to move on from Darnold rather than go into the season with their QB as a lame duck. The Seahawks, as they've shown an ability to do before, find an unconventional but effective replacement either on their roster or in the free agent market. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Current starter: Baker Mayfield Signed through: 2026 When Tom Brady retired at the end of the 2022 season, the Bucs signed Mayfield to a one-year, $4 million contract. At the time, Mayfield's career was in some distress. He had played the previous season with the Panthers and Rams after being let go by Cleveland, the team that drafted him first overall in 2018. The Bucs believed they were taking a high-upside swing on a player who was healthy for the first time in a while and motivated to prove his doubters wrong. They were correct. In 2023, Mayfield threw for 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as the Bucs went 9-8 and repeated as NFC South champions. After that season, Tampa Bay rewarded Mayfield with a three-year, $100 million contract. After an impressive 4,500 yards and 41 touchdown passes and another division title in 2024, Mayfield (and the Bucs) slumped in 2025. He played through injury, his numbers dropped across the board, and the Buccaneers went 8-9 to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2019. This is the final year of that three-year deal Mayfield signed after the 2023 season, and he and the Bucs were unable to come to an agreement this offseason on an extension. Mayfield has said he doesn't plan to negotiate further until after the season. He's betting on himself and the idea that a season reminiscent of 2023 or 2024 will result in a massive contract in Tampa or somewhere else. The Buccaneers would love to find themselves in that predicament. Veteran Jake Browning is the backup, and undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels is also on the roster. Mayfield said the other day that no one believes in the Bucs this season, but most people I talk to expect Tampa Bay to be good, so I don't know what he has been reading online. The Buccaneers were as injury ravaged as any team last season, and that shouldn't repeat itself. Most likely outcome: The Bucs rebound and return to the top of the NFC South. Mayfield plays the way he did his first two years there. They even win a playoff game or two. The Bucs could use the franchise tag on him, but with about $30 million in dead money set to hit their 2027 cap because of Mayfield's contract voiding, they're better off giving in to his demands and signing him to a long-term contract before the void date. Mayfield says he wants to finish his career as a Buc. Long-shot outcome: After another down year, the Bucs and Mayfield agree to part ways. Tampa Bay finds itself once again in the market for a reasonably priced QB solution and looks to the draft or free agency. Maybe it takes a shot on someone such as Tyson Bagent or Tanner McKee. Maybe it tries someone such as Michael Penix Jr. if the Falcons are done with him. Maybe this is the team that takes Jalen Hurts off the Eagles' hands or becomes Kyler Murray's long-term landing spot. The point is, the Buccaneers would have options -- as would Mayfield. Who knows? Maybe he's the latest veteran to land with the Steelers. If you've been reading this long, you get the idea that next offseason's QB landscape could be pretty wild.