Ranking the clubs most likely to pursue a quarterback next April
We only had two quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and not all teams with clear quarterback needs picked a passer early in late April.
Right now, the 2026 draft class of quarterbacks appears to be loaded, headlined by Texas’ Arch Manning, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, Penn State’s Drew Allar and Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt.
When I wrote this article for the 2025 draft in May 2024, I listed the following clubs: Steelers (as honorable mention, and they still don’t have a long-term solution on the roster), Dallas Cowboys (who subsequently signed Dak Prescott to a massive extension), Saints, Raiders, Jets and Giants.
Beyond the Titans and Browns, the above-mentioned clubs were ultimately most linked to all the quarterbacks in free agency and the 2025 draft.
Will the 2026 edition of this lookahead article provide as clear of a picture as it proved to a year ago?
As always, there will be a small collection of clubs eager to address the most vital position on the field via the draft.
Let’s pinpoint those teams now.
Honorable mention: New Orleans Saints
The Saints just spent a top 40 selection on a quarterback — Louisville’s Tyler Shough, who’ll be 26 in September, which is the main problem with said selection regarding long-term viability at the position in New Orleans. Unrelated: Shough will probably be the last player born in the 1990s (or 1900s, however you want to look at it), to be selected in the NFL Draft.
Sure, Shough could hit, and the Saints would have the answer they’ve been looking for since Drew Brees retired. I don’t feel fantastic about him doing enough as a rookie, with this reasonably barren New Orleans roster around him, to halt all suggestions about the Saints being in on the 2026 quarterback draft market.
Which is why they firmly belong in the honorable mention slot.
5. New York Jets
The Jets appear comfortable entering the 2025 season with a new head coach and Justin Fields at quarterback. Fields is one of the more polarizing young signal-callers in football. I believe we mostly know what we have with him at this stage after more than 1,110 pass attempts into his NFL career.
Is there any room for growth at this stage? Absolutely. Fields only recently turned 26 years old. When he was the Bears‘ full-time starter in 2022 and 2023, he averaged right around 7.0 yards per attempt with right around a 60% completion rate, the latter being clearly substandard in today’s NFL.
While there’s no doubting his running capabilities — he ran for over 1,100 yards in 2022 and will bring a 6.0 yards-per-carry average into 2025, his career sack rate of 11.9% is catastrophically high, and an indication of his inability to make quick decisions in live action. While his sack rate has dropped in each of the past three seasons, the 9.04% rate on a limited sample as the Steelers starter in 2024 would’ve been the sixth highest in football had he attempted enough passes to qualify.
All this is to say — I think Fields can be a serviceable bridge quarterback (and the same is true for ageless wonder Tyrod Taylor) with the Jets. Do I feel confident in him as New York’s long-term solution in the shotgun? No. New GM Darren Mougey will likely be a motivated buyer in next year’s draft class at quarterback.
The Rams have it made. They are simultaneously a Super Bowl contender — don’t forget they were this close to beating the Eagles in the divisional round — and possess an extra first-round pick in the 2026 draft.
While GM Les Snead’s eyes likely lit up when he heard the Falcons‘ offer to move into the Rams’ spot at No. 26 overall, so much so that he simply could not refuse the offer. However, it was a strategic maneuver with the quarterback position in mind, given that Matthew Stafford is entering his age-37 season. Yes, he is newly minted Matthew Stafford, but while it comes with a hefty dead cap hit, the Rams could actually save close to $7 million if the veteran is released after the 2025 campaign. And, heck, even if he’s retained through the duration of his two-year deal, what a mentor for a rookie quarterback.
Rams head coach Sean McVay has climbed the NFL mountain. He has his ring. After flirting with early retirement after his Super Bowl victory, rebuilding the Rams with another quarterback — this time homegrown and potentially handpicked in the draft by the McVay and Snead duo — would provide an invigorating challenge for Los Angeles’ head coach.
Anthony Richardson, Daniel Jones, Riley Leonard and Jason Bean currently comprise the Colts’ current quarterback room. Who will emerge as the starter amongst one of the most bland and uncertain quarterback rooms in the NFL? If things, again, go sideways in Indianapolis — this club hasn’t advanced to the postseason since 2020 — I’d be shocked if both head coach Shane Steichen and GM Chris Ballard are retained for the 2026 season.
In that case, a new head coach and new GM will be squarely set on picking a quarterback in the draft, three years after Richardson was selected with the No. 5 overall pick.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
Are the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers still playing the longest game of cat and mouse? Is there still a chance Rodgers is Pittsburgh’s Week 1 starter in September? Or are the Steelers ready to trot out Mason Rudolph — a capable bridge-type option — in an AFC with Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, C.J. Stroud and Justin Herbert?
Either way, the Steelers will firmly be in the quarterback market in the draft in 2026. They have to be. Rodgers is almost assuredly only a one-year answer if he signs in 2025. Rudolph, even if he continues to ascend, turns 30 in July and doesn’t even reach the average level in some physical characteristics by today’s standards. This isn’t groundbreaking — the Steelers will draft a quarterback in Round 1 in 2026.
1. Cleveland Browns
If the Steelers going quarterback early in next year’s draft feels obvious, the Browns’ likely intentions in the first round next year could not be more telegraphed. They didn’t move up to No. 1 to pick Cam Ward. They passed on Jaxson Dart, then picked Dillon Gabriel in Round 3 and Shedeur Sanders in Round 5 in one of the strangest draft classes I can remember.
Gabriel or Sanders could prove valuable as rookies, but they have to beat out Kenny Pickett and especially Joe Flacco first, a feat most of us would consider rather surprising. Owners of the Jaguars‘ 2026 first-round selection, Cleveland positioned itself to ascend the board — if needed — to snag the desired quarterback on draft night next April.
At some point, this organization will find its franchise savior at the game’s most vital position. And he very well could be in the 2026 draft.
