There are plenty fo NFL quarterbacks whose 2026 is set. We know who the starter will be for at least two-thirds of the league next season, and we know the Raiders are going to do whatever it takes to draft a rookie to replace Geno Smith. But there are a handful of unsettled situations around the league.
But a few quarterback situations around the league remain wide open, where the 2026 starter is still unknown and the final month could shape entire offseason plans. Here are four NFL QBs who have a lot to play for heading into the final month of the NFL season.
Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns
Cleveland has the weirdest quarterback situation in the league. Shedeur Sanders is poised to make his third career start this week after taking over when fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel was sidelined with a concussion. Gabriel is back, but Sanders remains the starter — for now.
There's no guarantee that the Browns won't go back to Gabriel at some point, just like there's also no guarantee that the team won't bring Deshaun Watson back, considering his practice window has been opened.
That makes every game matter for Sanders, who hasn't really done much so far. He completed 64.0 percent of his passes and wasn't intercepted in a loss to the 49ers, which is an improvement over his previous numbers, but the Browns produced just eight points in that game.
Cleveland should have a clear path to drafting a quarterback in the first round. At this point, I doubt Sanders can do anything to change the Browns' mind on that, other than leading the team to enough improbable wins to put them out of position to draft his replacement. But what Sanders can do is play well enough that he heads into 2026 as the No. 2 quarterback on this team, which would be a good outcome for him at this point.
Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints
The Saints are almost certainly going to be in a position to replace Tyler Shough with a rookie quarterback at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft. The question is whether Shough can play well enough over the remainder of the season to convince the team to not do that.
Count me among the people who thought there was no way Shough would work in the NFL. It took years for him to really show NFL-caliber skills in college, and he seemed like an easy bust call. However, Shough has been impressive since taking over for Spencer Rattler. Not great, but certainly good enough.
If he can keep playing like he has been — and if he can cut down on the turnovers — then New Orleans might be able keep him in that role next season, allowing the team to trade down to add extra talent around Shough, at which point the team can see if he can be the guy in 2026. If he isn't, then New Orleans will likely be right back where they are with a chance to draft a top quarterback in 2027.
J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
If you watched Sam Darnold last year and thought "oh, the Vikings can win with anyone," then congratulations: You're qualified to be a member of the Minnesota Vikings front office. Unfortunately, like the front office, you would be wrong. It turns out that Darnold's actually just an above-average NFL quarterback and can't win if they're getting subpar play at the NFL's most important position.
The Vikings are 2-4 in the six games with McCarthy under center, and the second-year quarterback has completed just 54.1 percent of his passes, with as many touchdowns as interceptions.
This final month isn't just about determining what the Vikings do with McCarthy. It's also about the future of this franchise in general. Does Minnesota see enough in McCarthy to keep him around and rebuild around him? Does he hit his stride and the team convinces itself that it can go all-in and win with McCarthy? Or could this final month go so bad that the Vikings spent the offseason looking for an upgrade to either flat-out replace McCarthy or to at least challenge him in training camp?
Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts
Unlike the other three players on this list, Daniel Jones will be a starter in 2025. The first question is just "where?," and the second question is "how much money will he make?"
The Jones we saw for the first half of this season looked like a star, like a player who had simply been held back by being a member of the New York Football Giants. It was easy to look at how well Jones was playing and to write his first six years off as being a victim of Brian Daboll.
But the Colts have lost three of the last four games, with the only win coming in overtime against Atlanta. Jones hasn't been a complete disaster, but he was picked off three times in a loss to the Steelers and completed just 51.9 percent of his passes in a loss to the Texans.
If the Colts don't right the ship and Jones continues to show these cracks, his 2026 offseason outlook will go from "signs a fairly big money deal to be a starting quarterback" to "signs a smaller, shorter deal to be a starting quarterback." He'll open 2026 as a Week 1 starter, but in the latter scenario, it will be a lot easier for a team to give up on him.