The Bears say they’re satisfied with their quarterback room, but there aren’t many teams in the NFL — maybe four? — that would volunteer to trade places with them.
Below, we rank all the quarterback situations for all 32 NFL teams, with the members of their two-deep in parentheses:
The bottom five
32. Patriots (Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer)
Is Bill Belichick really going to turn his team over to someone who’s thrown four career passes? Either he knows something we don’t, or he’s trying to prove he’s the smartest guy in the room. Probably both.
31. Jaguars (Gardner Minshew, Josh Dobbs)
The Jaguars were thrilled to trade Nick Foles and let the mustachioed Minshew start all year. They’ll be even more thrilled to draft Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence next season after what appears to be a tank job.
30. Redskins (Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen)
The 15th pick in the 2019 draft, Haskins went 2-5 as a starter and threw as many interceptions as touchdowns. His 76.1 passer rating was last among those who started seven or more games.
29. Broncos (Drew Lock, Jeff Driskel)
John Elway declared Lock the team’s quarterback of the future after he went 4-1 in a late-season rookie cameo. Three of those wins came against the lowly Chargers, Raiders and Lions. Driskel is a shaky second-stringer.
28. Bears (Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles)
How valuable is familiarity? The Bears gave up a fourth-round pick for the privilege of paying Foles at least $21 million guaranteed. Andy Dalton, in whom the Bears also had interest, was eventually cut by the Bengals and signed a one-year, $3 million deal— that could reach $7 million with incentives — as the Cowboys’ backup. If Trubisky beats out Foles, it will mark the first time in NFL history that a quarterback wrests away the full-time starting job in Year 4 for the team that declined his fifth-year option.
The New Yorkers
27. Giants (Daniel Jones, Colt McCoy)
The rookie Jones won his first two starts — and then lost 9 of the last 10 games he started. A healthy Saquon Barkley would be his most welcome upgrade in 2020.
26. Jets (Sam Darnold, David Fales)
Darnold went 6-2 to finish the season and, unlike his Giants counterpart, won’t have to adjust to a new coach and coordinator during the virtual offseason.
25. Bills (Josh Allen, Matt Barkley)
No second-year quarterback made a greater leap than Allen, who continued to be a running threat (510 yards) and moved his passing numbers closer to league average. He engineered four fourth-quarter comebacks and led the Bills to the playoffs.
The bridge?
24. Panthers (Teddy Bridgewater, Will Grier)
Is Bridgewater, who turns 28 in November, the bridge to a draft pick in the next two years? That depends on whether he stars in Joe Brady’s fun new scheme. Bridgewater and Brady, LSU’s star assistant last year, worked together with the Saints.
Recent first-rounders
23. Chargers (Tyrod Taylor, Justin Herbert)
The Chargers swear they like Taylor, but they didn’t take Herbert sixth overall so he could spend the season behind someone who’s made three starts in two years.
22. Browns (Baker Mayfield, Case Keenum)
For all the preseason hype, Mayfield’s second year wound up being markedly worse than his first. His passer rating fell from 93.7 to 78.8. Only Jameis Winston threw more interceptions.
21. Dolphins (Tua Tagovailoa, Ryan Fitzpatrick)
Tagovailoa will be special — he’ll be in the 2022 power ranking top 10. He’ll get a rude welcome as a rookie, though, after recovering from a grisly hip injury.
20. Bengals (Joe Burrow, Ryan Finley)
Burrow just posted the greatest season in the history of college quarterbacks — he led the nation in passing yards, touchdowns and passer rating and beat seven top-10 teams. Will the Bengals mess him up?
Middle class
19. Rams (Jared Goff, John Wolford)
Coming off a Super Bowl last year, the Rams gave Goff a four-year, $134 million extension that — after a so-so season and a restructure — makes him untradeable.
18. Raiders (Derek Carr, Marcus Mariota)
The Raiders showed so little faith in Carr that they gave Mariota $17.6 million over two years — and $7.5 million guaranteed — to back him up. Controversy brewing?
17. Steelers (Ben Roethlisberger, Mason Rudolph)
It’s never been easier to forget about Roethlisberger, who missed 14 games with an elbow injury last season.
16. Lions (Matthew Stafford, Chase Daniel)
A healthy Stafford is a a top-eight quarterback. After making every start for eight full seasons, a broken back limited him to only eight starts last year.
15. Vikings (Kirk Cousins, Sean Mannion)
Cousins gets knocked for being merely league-average, but give him this: he went 10-5 as a starter last year and beat the Saints in a road playoff game.
14. Falcons (Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub)
Ryan has thrown a league-high 1,224 passes over the last two seasons. For the good of his career, he should hope the signing of running back Todd Gurley changes that.
13. Colts (Philip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett)
Rivers pulled a Reverse Unitas — after playing his whole career with the Chargers, he’ll finish it with the Colts. Will it be as embarrassing? Rivers will benefit from a better offensive line and skipping Denver and Kansas City weather.
Upper-middle class
12. Cardinals (Kyler Murray, Brett Hundley)
Murray’s 5-10, 207-pound frame held up just fine as a rookie — his 542 rushing yards trailed only Lamar Jackson among quarterbacks. By season’s end, Murray looked like a star. Now he has DeAndre Hopkins as a weapon.
11. Eagles (Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts)
The Eagles say they’ll use Hurts in special packages, and not to challenge Wentz, who threw 27 touchdowns and seven picks and played all 16 games last year.
10. Titans (Ryan Tannehill, Logan Woodside)
Tannehill led the NFL with an absurd 117.5 passer rating and led the Titans to the AFC title game. The Titans are paying a fortune — $91 million in likely guarantees — to see if he can do it again.
9. 49ers (Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Mullens)
Garoppolo went 13-3 and won the NFC in his first full season as the starter. The Rolling Meadows High School alum was one overthrown pass from being the Super Bowl hero.
Elite eight
8. Cowboys (Dak Prescott, Andy Dalton)
Since being drafted in the fourth round, Prescott has made every single start and won 40 games in four years. The Cowboys need to pay him.
7. Buccaneers (Tom Brady, Blaine Gabbert)
The bet here is that a new home — and, more importantly, new targets in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and O.J. Howard — reverses Brady’s slow decline from the past few years. Oh, and he brought Gronk with him.
6. Texans (Deshaun Watson, AJ McCarron)
Watson watched head-coach-turned-wanna-be-GM Bill O’Brien trade away his best weapon, Hopkins. The Texans are in danger of wasting a generational talent
5. Seahawks (Russell Wilson, Geno Smith)
Wilson’s 100 passing touchdowns over the past three seasons are 15 more than the next-closest player. His passer rating during that time ranks third among those with at least 22 starts — behind Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes.
4. Packers (Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love)
Drafting Love in the first round will spark Rodgers, either for better or worse. Bet against him at your own peril — he went 13-3 last year and had the league’s lowest interception percentage.
3.Ravens (Lamar Jackson, Robert Griffin III)
The reigning consensus MVP threw for an NFL-best 36 touchdowns and finished sixth in rushing yards. Unless NFL coaches solve the Ravens offense this offseason, Jackson — who is still on his cheap rookie deal — might just revolutionize the sport.
2. Saints (Drew Brees, Jameis Winston)
Brees will give it at least one more go this season, backed up by the NFL’s 2019 passing yards leader. Throw in Taysom Hill — who had 50 passing yards, 50 rushing yards and 25 receiving yards in their playoff game — and the Saints have the NFL’s most well-rounded room.
1. Chiefs (Patrick Mahomes, Chad Henne)
At 24, Mahomes has already been named NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP. He’s the best player at the most valuable position in sports — and will only get better. Avert your eyes, Bears fans.
