As expected, Kyler Murray signed with the Minnesota Vikings shortly after the new league year began, greatly improving what was arguably the worst quarterback room in the NFL in 2025. Even with Murray off the board, there are still several intriguing free agents and trade candidates at the quarterback position waiting to sign. Here's where they might end up.
Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Several veteran quarterbacks, including Rodgers, Cousins and Russell Wilson remain on the market.
- The Steelers, Chiefs, Raiders and Vikings are among the franchises that could reshape the remaining quarterback market.
- After Kyler Murray signed with the Vikings, the NFL’s biggest QB dominoes could fall next.
Aaron Rodgers
- Prediction: Re-signs with Steelers
It feels like Aaron Rodgers is going to decide between re-signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers or retiring. It makes a lot of sense for Rodgers to hang up the spikes, given he has virtually nothing else to accomplish in his Hall of Fame career and he's 42 years old, but I think he's going to re-sign with Pittsburgh for a couple of reasons.
First, this team is good enough to make the playoffs. The Steelers made it there with Rodgers at the helm in 2025, and they've improved this offseason. Heck, they finally got a real WR2 in Michael Pittman Jr. Second, Mike McCarthy is now the head coach. Rodgers and McCarthy had a ton of success together in Green Bay, so how fitting would it be to see Rodgers have one last hurrah with the coach he played for the longest?
Kirk Cousins
- Prediction: Signs with Raiders
Barring a massive shocker, the Las Vegas Raiders are going to select Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. As fun a prospect as Mendoza is, whether he's ready to start Week 1 remains to be seen. That's where Cousins comes in.
The 37-year-old can start as many games as the Raiders need until Mendoza is ready. If they don't want him to start at all, he can be a valuable veteran mentor for the rookie gunslinger. There isn't much Cousins hasn't experienced in the NFL. He'll probably prefer to land a guaranteed starting job somewhere, but I'm not sure such an opportunity exists, making Vegas more appealing.
Joe Flacco
- Prediction: Re-signs with Bengals
Joe Flacco hopes to find a starting job, but with teams like the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons and the Vikings (to name a few) having filled their vacancies, it's hard to envision Flacco being named a surefire starter. With that in mind, a reunion with the Cincinnati Bengals makes a lot of sense.
Veteran QB Joe Flacco, who will be a free agent Monday, wants an opportunity to at least compete for a starting job. But if he’s a backup, sources say, Flacco would strongly consider a return to Cincinnati, where he filled in for Joe Burrow last fall and made his first Pro Bowl. pic.twitter.com/SktpE1Eajl
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 8, 2026
It's been reported that if Flacco has to settle for a backup job, the Bengals would be at the top of his list. Cincinnati hasn't signed a backup yet, so there's reason to believe they're waiting for Flacco, who had some good games for them down the stretch last season. With Joe Burrow's injury history in mind, signing a veteran like Flacco, who is capable of starting when needed, feels like a must.
Russell Wilson
- Prediction: Signs with Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are in a bit of a weird spot. Obviously, Patrick Mahomes is their quarterback in 2026 and beyond, but after he suffered a season-ending torn ACL last season, it remains to be seen whether he'll be ready for Week 1. Given the lack of certainty, can the Chiefs really afford to have an unproven quarterback like Chris Oladokun, who didn't look ready last season, as their backup?
Russell Wilson is obviously not the quarterback he once was, and he didn't get to play much last season after losing his starting job, but in an ideal world, the Chiefs would only need him for a week or two at most. Wilson is more capable of starting right now than Oladokun, and his market might be depressed enough that the Chiefs can sign the Super Bowl champion to a near-minimum deal to be their backup for most of the year.
Mac Jones
- Prediction: Stays with 49ers
Mac Jones' name has been in trade rumors ever since the season ended, and it isn't hard to see why. With Brock Purdy etched as the San Francisco 49ers' starter, Jones is nothing more than a backup. Now, backups are valuable, but if the Niners could get, say, a day two pick for Jones, why wouldn't they do that and just sign someone else to be Purdy's backup?
It seemed like a realistic possibility that the Niners could've gotten an offer too good to turn down for Jones, but how likely is that at this point? As mentioned above, most of the starting jobs have already been filled. It's unlikely a team out there will be willing to trade anything worthwhile for Jones, only for him to be a backup. With that being said, the Niners ought to hold onto him and roster one of the best backups in the league themselves.
J.J. McCarthy
- Prediction: Stays with Vikings
It's fair to wonder what's going to happen with J.J. McCarthy, now that the Vikings signed Murray. Barring something unforeseen, Murray will be Minnesota's Week 1 starter, pinning McCarthy, a recent top 10 pick, to the bench for most, if not the entire season. Is that really ideal? Of course not. In an ideal world, the Vikings would trade McCarthy for something worthwhile.
With that being said, last season went so poorly to the point where I doubt he'll have much of a market, and the Vikings shouldn't rush to trade him. I understand that just about everything has gone wrong since Minnesota selected him in the 2024 NFL Draft, but the Vikings shouldn't give up on McCarthy quite yet.
It's easy to forget, but McCarthy hasn't experienced a single healthy season as a backup quarterback. He didn't play in his rookie year, and that was due to injury. McCarthy spending a year learning from Murray and Kevin O'Connell while being able to practice throughout any given week could really help his development.
He wasn't ready to start in 2025, but spending this season learning and developing could lead to him being ready in 2027. Murray only signed a one-year deal after all.
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