As the QB turns; post-combine episode … With the 2025 NFL football year set to get underway on Wednesday, expect the music for the league’s game of musical QB chairs to get very loud. Right now, there are 6 teams – Tennessee, Cleveland, the Giants, the Jets, Pittsburgh and Seattle, after the Seahawks traded incumbent starter Geno Smith to Las Vegas over the weekend – that do not have an established NFL starting QB. And as luck would have it, there are an equal number of viable options of varying significance at the position including veteran free agents Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, along with the two top prospects at the position – Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders – who will be available at the upcoming draft. Of course, of those veteran options, only Darnold and maybe Fields, could be considered potential longer-term solutions, but given that just about everything we are picking up these days is that Tennessee and Cleveland will be taking QBs with the first and second picks respectively despite the temptation to trade down for a package of picks – its just what NFL teams do in those situations – some teams are going to have to settle for shorter term answers while they look for their QB of the future either in later rounds this year and/or at the 2026 or beyond drafts. Note, though, there could actually be a 5th veteran signal-caller available as Atlanta has to decide what to do with now back-up Kirk Cousins who has a $40M cap hit and is due a $10M roster bonus next week.
