In his first season with the Seattle Seahawks, Sam Darnold threw for over 4,000 passing yards and led them to the franchise’s first NFC Championship since 2014.
Over in Foxborough, Drake Maye racked up 4,200 yards and 30 scores to lead New England to 13 wins in just his second season, leading many to believe that the Patriots have already found the second coming of Tom Brady.
For those franchises, the quarterback is solved, and one of them will lift the Lombardi.
Super Bowl LX is fast approaching, and when it gets here, a new major player in the betting world will have arrived. The upcoming launch of Ozoon sports betting site is expected to coincide with Santa Clara’s Big Game, offering punters all their favorite markets on the biggest weekend of the sporting year. Will it be Darnold, or will it be Maye? Both have shone in 2025, but for six other teams, the upcoming offseason and the hunt for a new man under center could not be more crucial.
Let’s take a look at which teams should be looking for new quarterbacks in 2026.
1. Las Vegas Raiders
Geno Smith walked into Allegiant Stadium last March as the Raiders’ salvation— a two-time Pro Bowler Pete Carroll trusted enough to send them to back-to-back playoff runs in Seattle. Las Vegas shipped a third-rounder to get him after missing on Matthew Stafford, convinced they’d landed the bridge they needed after the messy Derek Carr divorce.
Instead, Smith threw 17 interceptions and posted efficiency numbers that belonged in the JaMarcus Russell era. The pocket presence that made him effective in Seattle evaporated. Decision-making cratered. By December, it was obvious the Raiders had torched another year of the post-Carr rebuild on a quarterback who couldn’t elevate anyone around him. Now they’re picking first overall, and there’s zero drama about what happens next.
Fernando Mendoza is the pick. The 6-foot-5 Indiana quarterback led college football with 41 touchdowns against six picks while winning a national championship, and his pro-style mechanics have scouts using words like “NFL-ready” and “franchise cornerstone.” Oddsmakers have him at -8000 to go first overall because this isn’t a debate anymore. Las Vegas needs this one to hit. They can’t afford another bridge-quarterback disaster.
2. New York Jets
The Justin Fields experiment lasted exactly one miserable season in the Big Apple, and now the Jets are picking second with a problem— their draft plan just exploded.
Dante Moore, the Oregon quarterback executives viewed as a potential top-five lock, has announced he’s returning to school for another year. That decision nuked any hope the MetLife Stadium front office had of simply drafting their way out of this mess.
So now they’re pivoting to the veteran trade market, and three names keep surfacing in league circles: Kyler Murray as the high-ceiling gamble, Tua Tagovailoa despite the same-division awkwardness with Miami, and Geno Smith as the bargain-bin fallback after his Vegas flameout. None of these feels like the answer a franchise picking this high should be chasing, but when you’ve cycled through this many quarterbacks in this many years, desperation starts looking a lot like strategy, and their options are pretty limited.
3. Arizona Cardinals
Kyler Murray’s $53.6 million cap hit for 2026 isn’t just expensive— it’s the ninth-highest in the NFL for a quarterback who’s led Arizona to one playoff appearance since being drafted first overall back in 2019.
The former Oklahoma Sooners sensation was supposed to be the savior in the Grand Canyon state, but repeated injuries and shutdown drama have prompted the new regime to change course and openly explore trade possibilities. The Cardinals can’t just release him — the dead cap would be catastrophic — but a post-June 1 trade would save $42.5 million while managing the financial hit.
If Arizona moves him, the No. 3 pick becomes their clean slate. Alabama’s Ty Simpson threw 25 touchdowns this season and declared for the draft, and his operational polish makes him the obvious Murray replacement, although admittedly, third overall feels a little high. The Cardinals are stuck between salvaging their former No. 1 overall investment and starting fresh with a cost-controlled rookie who doesn’t come with the baggage. One way or another, this gets decided before the draft.
4. Cleveland Browns
Deshaun Watson missed all of 2025 recovering from his twice-ruptured Achilles, and even when he was healthy, his 9-10 record as Cleveland’s starter didn’t justify the monstrous $230 million fully guaranteed contract that’s now suffocating the franchise. GM Andrew Berry has said Watson will be on the 2026 roster, but it would be surprising if anyone inside the building actually believes that’s sustainable in the long term.
The Browns drafted both Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders last year, but neither of them shone as the starter once Joe Flacco departed for Cincinnati. Could Joe Cool return for a third stint with the Browns? Perhaps, but at number six on the draft board, Cleveland has the opportunity to create competition and build a succession plan beyond Watson, whose rehab setback pushed his recovery timeline even further.
A new head coach is coming in with input on the quarterback decision, and rolling into another season without viable options would be organizational malpractice. The Watson contract is unmovable financial quicksand, but Cleveland can at least draft the guy who might eventually replace him. Do they jump, selecting Simpson sixth overall to lock him in, or do they wait for the later rounds and look toward the likes of Carson Beck and Drew Allar?
5. Miami Dolphins
Tua Tagovailoa threw a career-high 15 interceptions in 2025, got benched for rookie Quinn Ewers late in the season, and then told reporters he’s open to playing elsewhere.
It’s rare for a franchise quarterback situation to unravel this publicly, but here we are. His late-season benching — getting yanked after just 65 yards through three quarters in the Week 15 defeat to Pittsburgh — felt like the beginning of the end.
The financial reality is brutal. Cutting Tua would create $99.2 million in dead cap, while trading him drops that number to around $45 million, depending on timing and whether anyone would be willing to take him. His $54 million in guaranteed money for 2026 makes him virtually untradeable without Miami eating significant salary, but keeping him after everything that’s happened feels impossible. The Dolphins hold the 11th overall pick and could target Ty Simpson or another developmental quarterback if he slides.
Either way, the Tua era in Miami is done, dusted, and over.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
Even with the hiring of Mike McCarthy, Aaron Rodgers may still retire or move on, and either scenario leaves Pittsburgh searching for answers at the position that’s defined their last two decades. Kirk Cousins keeps coming up in trade discussions, and the veteran gunslinger certainly would have fit in the Mike Tomlin mold. But with the long-serving head coach now gone, will the Black-and-Gold change course with their requirements for their starting QB?
Atlanta is paying him $27.5 million to back up Michael Penix Jr., which makes zero financial sense for the Falcons. If they’re willing to eat salary, Pittsburgh could grab a proven veteran without giving up premium draft capital, a classic rinse and repeat move in the Steel City.
Would it pay off? Well, that’s anybody’s guess, and we’ll have to wait and see what move they make.
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