8 starting quarterbacks who may (or may not) be traded soon
We take a look at the big-name QBs who are most and least likely to be on the move. Plus, a foolproof suggestion on how to make the Pro Bowl fun.
Last year at this time, Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff swapped teams when the Rams sent their young quarterback (and some draft picks) to Detroit in exchange for the guy who, 12 months later, would lead them to the Super Bowl.
That was the first of a few trades centered around starting quarterbacks last offseason. Weeks later, Carson Wentz landed in Indianapolis. A couple months after that, Sam Darnold was a Panther and Teddy Bridgewater was a Bronco.
So far in 2022, no quarterback moves have been made, but it’s only a matter of time until the dominoes start falling. Several franchises — the Steelers, Bucs, Broncos, Saints, and Commanders (still getting used to that one) — are definitely in the market for a new passer. But more than twice that number of teams could be in the same category, depending on how this offseason unfolds.
Even as we wait for the transaction wire to pick up, the rumor mill has never quieted down. There is no shortage of names that have been bandied about as potential trade candidates, thanks in part to a weak group of QBs in free agency and the draft this year.
I’m going to take a look at eight of those names and rank them based on how likely I think they are to get traded. Let’s start with the player likeliest to get dealt and then work our way down.
1. Jimmy Garoppolo
Why he could get traded: Uh, because he’s getting traded:
Garoppolo is a mostly solid quarterback who can run an offense well — just as long as he’s not asked to do too much. Despite his limitations, he’d be a better option at quarterback than what probably a dozen teams currently have on their roster.
Why he might not get traded: Maybe if Trey Lance soon suffers an injury that would keep him out for the 2022 season? (Stay safe, Trey!)
2. Derek Carr
Why he could get traded: Carr has just one year remaining on his contract and openly campaigned for Rich Bisaccia to be retained as the Raiders’ head coach. Josh McDaniels got the job instead and might want to handpick his quarterback.
Plus, Carr’s older brother, David, recently gave an interview in which he said Derek needs the team to put a ring on it and not string him along:
If the Raiders don’t want to commit to Carr with an extension, another team would be happy to do so — and Vegas would receive decent draft compensation in exchange.
Why he might not get traded: Carr is an affordable, trustworthy veteran quarterback, which the NFL doesn’t have too many of these days. Soon after he was hired, McDaniels spoke to Carr and said the convo went “really, really, really good,” and he thinks highly enough of Carr to almost trade for him last year while McDaniels was the OC in New England.
3. Russell Wilson
Why he could get traded: Wilson unofficially asked for a trade last year before ultimately making peace with the Seattle front office. After a down season for both Wilson and the Seahawks, there’s no better time for a fresh start, and Wilson has already made it clear he wants to explore his options again this offseason.
Why he might not get traded: The Seahawks have also made it clear that they have no plans to say goodbye to their franchise quarterback. Wilson has been subject of trade rumors a couple times before, and he’s still only played in a Seattle uniform — something he has said, publicly at least, that he’d like to continue to do:
4. Baker Mayfield
Why he could get traded: Mayfield, despite leading the Browns to the playoffs in 2020, might not be the best fit for Kevin Stefanski’s system. With just one year left on his rookie deal, the Browns have a decision to make about Mayfield’s future with the franchise, and if they can lure a big fish like Wilson to Cleveland, then they wouldn’t hesitate to upgrade at the position. This is a roster that should be a contender — the Browns swept the season series against the Super Bowl-bound Bengals — but wasn’t able to compete consistently at that level due to a struggling quarterback.
Why he might not get traded: Mayfield was, at times, awful in 2021, posting career lows in passing yards, touchdowns, and QBR. He also played through injury for most of the season. After undergoing successful shoulder surgery just weeks ago, Mayfield should be able to bounce back next season. The Browns have said they expect him to return to Cleveland, and there aren’t many available options that would be considered much of an improvement over Mayfield.
5. Carson Wentz
Why he could get traded: When it comes down to it, the No. 1 reason the Colts missed out on the playoffs was because of their quarterback play. Wentz was better in his first season in Indy than in his last year in Philadelphia (that’s not saying much), but his performance declined in the second half of the season, including a horrendous Week 18 outing against the Jags in a win-and-in scenario. The Colts are talented enough, outside QB, that they should be competing for division championships. GM Chris Ballard did not commit to Wentz as the starter next season, and his cap hit is reasonable enough, especially for a team with lots of space, that the Colts could find a trade partner — or just cut him outright.
Why he might not get traded: Frank Reich has been a Wentz supporter for a long time now and might think he can still help get him back on track. The Colts could do their due diligence and decide that none of the quarterbacks they could land in free agency or the draft (where they don’t have a first-round pick) would be a sure thing. They also may not be ready to move on so quickly from a quarterback they gave up a first- and third-rounder to acquire.
6. Aaron Rodgers
Why he could get traded: There was doubt last year about whether Rodgers would return to the Packers. He held out until late July and only returned when the team agreed to some concessions, including a restructured contract. This year, Rodgers promised that he wouldn’t take as long to make a decision about his future, but he also insisted he didn’t want to be part of a rebuild. The Packers have cap issues and quite a few key players who are impending free agents, including Rodgers’ favorite target, Davante Adams. And Rodgers’ former OC, Nathaniel Hackett, is the new head coach for the QB-needy Broncos.
Why he might not get traded: Rodgers has high praise for Matt LaFleur and says he loves playing for him and Green Bay. Despite another early exit in the playoffs, Rodgers and LaFleur work well together — they’ve won 13 games in each of the last three seasons and Rodgers is on the verge of winning back-to-back MVP awards. The glimpses we got of Jordan Love this season don’t inspire a ton of confidence that the 2020 first-round pick is ready to take over, either.
Or Rodgers could simply retire and start his own Spotify podcast that spreads disinformation to its listeners. But hopefully not that.
7. Tua Tagovailoa
Why he could get traded: Poor Tua. We already knew, reading between the lines (the double negative gave it away!), that he felt a little unwanted after all the Dolphins trade rumors revolving around Deshaun Watson. Now, according to Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL, it looks like team owner Stephen Ross never wanted him either. Tagovailoa has shown flashes, but he hasn’t been steady enough or taken a big leap yet — and he hasn’t been the star that fellow 2020 draft mates Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert have. If whoever replaces Flores decides he’d like to choose his own quarterback — and Ross has said he’d leave that up to the new coach — Tua could be on a new team, two years after being the No. 5 pick.
Why he might not get traded: Ross was also adamant that he had confidence in Tagovailoa, who has appeared in just 23 games in his career. That means that Tua still has plenty of room to grow, which he could under the right offensive mind. He’s also on a relatively cheap rookie deal, and his play hasn’t been anywhere near bad enough to justify moving on from him this soon unless the Dolphins reel in an absolute slam dunk at quarterback.
8. Kirk Cousins
Why he could get traded: He’s Kirk Cousins. You know exactly what you’re going to get with him — a middle-of-the-pack QB who is efficient and can put up numbers but isn’t going to win you many games on his own. At this point in his career, he’s not getting noticeably better.
The Vikings, after firing longtime head coach Mike Zimmer and GM Rick Spielman, might want a clean break from the old era, including a new quarterback.
Why he might not get traded: Reported new coach Kevin O’Connell was the QB coach in Cousins’ final year in Washington. The two already have a rapport, as does Cousins with dynamic receivers Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. The passing offense is about the least of Minnesota’s worries.
Mostly, though, it boils down to money. Cousins has one year remaining on his contract, and that year includes $35 million in guaranteed money and a $45 million cap hit. Who wants to be saddled with that? — SH
A simple, 88-step plan to fix the Pro Bowl
(also published over at For The Win, because I’m tired as hell and every day I’m supposed to finally have a day off Tom Brady retires or doesn’t retire and, anyway, here’s my plan for the NFL’s garbage game)
The NFL has the worst all-star game in major sports. No one cares about the Pro Bowl.
Each winter, the NFL sends 88 representatives — some worthy, others Evan Engram types along for the ride — to a warm-weather stadium for an exhibition showdown designed to take up space during the Super Bowl bye week. This is a better decision than running the game in the middle of February after everyone has finished caring about football for the season, but still generally a bad idea.
The Pro Bowl sets a stage for disinterested players to go through the motions, collect a check, earn an all-star jersey to hang on their wall, and then hopefully leave town with a few good stories. Except for Sean Taylor, to whom the game was extremely real. RIP.
There isn’t much excitement in watching the players you like go 80 percent out there. But there is a way to fix it. Three years ago Jason Garrett, of all people, struck gold:
Garrett, fully understanding the nonsense unfolding around him, let his offensive players play defense. Not in a Deion Sanders “he’s a cornerback AND a wide receiver” kind of way. He took the NFC’s two best running backs, saw they wanted to take some reps, and inserted them at edge rusher.
And it ruled.
There’s no reason to stop there. And thus, here is my modest Pro Bowl proposal.
Randomize the positions. Fill out depth charts by virtue of drawing names out of a hat. Institute a rule all quarterbacks must weigh at least 300 pounds. Have all the kicking done by players who are not kickers. No one gets to play the position they were voted into the game to fill.
Now we’ve got an exhibition worth watching. Imagine Kenny Clark taking a snap from Deebo Samuel, dropping back and delivering a dime to Shaq Barrett, only for it to be picked off by lockdown cornerback Justin Tucker. After the ensuing AFC drive sputters out following handoffs to T.J. Watt and Colts long snapper Luke Rhodes, head coach Mike Vrabel calls on placekicker Patrick Ricard to plant a 34-yard field goal attempt squarely into his long snapper’s — in this case, Derwin James — back.
Would it be a bummer missing out on a chance to see Jonathan Taylor and Nick Chubb take a few more handoffs? Sure, but we get that all season. How often do we get to see an offensive lineman take a screen pass and rumble to the end zone? Robert Hunt did that back in November and it was one of the greatest things about 2021 even though it didn’t count.
The argument against position randomization is that the result wouldn’t really be NFL football. Which, of course, is the purest four-word distillation of the Pro Bowl to begin with: not really NFL football.
This isn’t about adding NBA Jam hot spots or a CFL-style rouge or a target on the top of the goal posts Patrick Mahomes gets one point for each time he hits it from midfield (…wait, that’s not bad). It’s football, played in the spirit of joyous high school blowouts where the head coach comes back to the sideline and asks who wants to play tight end this series.
(Additionally, the hilarity of sportsbooks trying to set lines for a Myles Garrett-Tristan Wirfs quarterback battle could be the funniest thing the NFL’s ever done. Up there with the NFL100 Super Bowl ad or giving Jacksonville a franchise.)
No one cares about the Pro Bowl because it’s bad football played by great players. Let’s make it bad football cultivated under the watchful eye of great athletes playing woefully out of position. Let’s steal one of the few redeeming qualities of awful baseball games — outfielders taking the mound — and apply it to the sport that supplanted baseball as America’s pastime.
***
The Pro Bowl isn’t supposed to be good or pure. The only conditions it has to meet are:
star players
football
You can easily get that done with a pass rush of wide receivers and punters closing in on a defensive tackle-turned-quarterback. I don’t want to watch Kirk Cousins throw checkdowns to James Conner. I want to see Kirk Cousins try and tackle a 260-pound tailback or snap a ball to his punter.
It’s too late to make this a formal addition in 2022, but Matt LaFleur and Mike Vrabel, hear my plea. If one of your linemen wants to play quarterback, let him. If your kicker and safety want to trade positions, do it. Give us something to root for in the Pro Bowl besides preseason-caliber football. — CD