Unexpected NFL Teams Now Facing Major Franchise QB Dilemmas in 2024 Offseason
The 2024 NFL draft class is headlined by Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, two quarterback prospects considered by many (including the Bleacher Report Scouting Department) to be can't-miss picks.
A handful of teams entered this season seemingly desperate to land one of these blue-chip passers, but more have unexpectedly joined the fray after things went sideways with their current starter.
These clubs initially seemed to be at least somewhat secure under center heading into 2023. But due to injuries, poor play, stunted development or some combination of all three, they now have a question mark at the game's most important position.
With that in mind, the following teams will be facing significant franchise quarterback dilemmas during the 2024 offseason.
Honorable Mentions
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Pittsburgh Steelers
Kenny Pickett has kept the Steelers in the playoff hunt, but he hasn't proven himself to be a legitimate franchise quarterback yet. While he's 12-8 in his first 20 career starts, he's also completing a meager 61.3 percent of his throws and has just 1,490 passing yards and six touchdowns in eight starts this year.
As poor as those marks are, the Steelers are winning too many games to land a top draft pick. They likely won't consider moving on from Pickett until after the 2024 season at the earliest.
Minnesota Vikings
The Kirk Cousins era appears to have ended prematurely in Minnesota. While the team was likely to part ways with the veteran signal-caller when his contract expired after the 2023 campaign, it now has a chance to evaluate some in-house replacement options during the back half of the season in the wake of his Achilles tear.
The team will have to wait to see what rookie Jaren Hall can provide after he was forced out of Sunday's contest with a concussion. That left Joshua Dobbs, whom the Vikings acquired at the trade deadline, as the only healthy quarterback on the roster.
The Vikings remain one of the top candidates to go after a quarterback in the 2024 draft, although their better-than-expected 5-4 record could make it tough to secure one without trading up.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons seemingly had enough of Desmond Ridder's struggles and replaced him with Taylor Heinicke. While Heinicke has kept things close in his first two games, Atlanta lost both and could eventually turn back to Ridder.
Neither is likely to be a long-term answer for a club that has invested a slew of first-round picks into skill-position talent. Atlanta must find a franchise quarterback to run this offense and will almost certainly be in the market for one this offseason after the dice roll on Ridder failed to pan out.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders have already begun cleaning house by parting ways with head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler, making it highly unlikely that Jimmy Garoppolo returns to finish out the three-year deal he signed in March. He's already been benched in favor of rookie Aidan O'Connell, who led the team to its first win Sunday under interim head coach Antonio Pierce.
With O'Connell faring well during a resounding 30-6 thrashing of the New York Giants, he could be a potential starter for the club in 2024 if he keeps performing at a high level.
Washington Commanders
The Washington Commanders are once again hovering around .500 for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. The team has churned through 12 starting quarterbacks in that span, most recently turning to second-year signal-caller Sam Howell to guide the offense.
While Howell has shown glimpses of potential and clearly has the green light to air it out—he leads the league in passing attempts and trails only Tua Tagovailoa in passing yardage—the results in the win column have remained the same regardless.
Howell has done better than expected for a player drafted on Day 3 who only started one game as a rookie, and he'll likely remain the starter in 2024 if he continues to play well. But his leash will be short, and the Commanders will quickly look elsewhere if he can't get them into the playoffs.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were forced to turn their offense over to Baker Mayfield following Tom Brady's retirement with no heir apparent on the roster. Mayfield has performed better than he did during his time with the Cleveland Browns, but he's still just 3-5 in his first eight starts despite having plenty of offensive weapons surrounding him.
The Bucs couldn't land a franchise quarterback in the 2023 draft, but if their losing streak continues—they've dropped four games in a row leading up to Week 10—Mayfield will almost certainly be on his way out in exchange for a prized rookie prospect.
Arizona Cardinals
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The Arizona Cardinals are unsurprisingly one of the worst teams in the NFL this season. Star quarterback Kyler Murray has yet to play this season as he works his way back from a torn ACL, but he could also be the next domino to fall in the desert.
While Murray is likely to make his season debut in Week 10, there's a good chance that his days in Arizona are numbered. Rival executives and agents believe the Cardinals "likely will move on" from the quarterback after this season, ESPN's per Dan Graziano, even if it results in a nearly $50 million dead cap charge in 2024.
Murray has played in 11 games since signing a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension in July 2022. He went 3-8 in those starts while completing 66.4 percent of his throws—the lowest mark of his career outside of his rookie season—for 2,368 yards and 14 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He added 418 rushing yards and three scores on 67 carries, but it remains to be seen if he'll remain as dynamic on a surgically repaired knee.
The Cardinals will have options to replace Murray should they opt to trade him. They are barreling towards the No. 1 overall pick, but even if Arizona loses out to the Chicago Bears—who would pick Nos. 2 and 3 if the draft were held today—a top-tier prospect such as UNC's Drake Maye or USC's Caleb Williams would still be within reach.
Although the latest Bleacher Report Scouting Department mock draft has Arizona taking Marvin Harrison Jr. at the top of the draft, a Murray trade would almost certainly lead to the club selecting one of the aforementioned passers. Doing so would not only give Gannon and Ossenfort a chance to fully reboot with a franchise cornerstone they've selected rather than a holdover from the previous regime, but also put a merciful end to what has become an era littered with failures and disappointments
Chicago Bears
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The Chicago Bears had a chance to draft a top quarterback prospect with the No. 1 overall pick last year, but they instead traded down to No. 9 as a vote of confidence in Justin Fields. However, Fields' poor play and injuries have the Bears in line for another top-five pick, and they're unlikely to forego selecting a quarterback for the second straight year.
While Fields went 3-12 in his 15 starts last year, he raised his completion percentage, yards per attempt and touchdown rate while lowering his interception percentage from a trying rookie campaign. Although he took a league-high 55 sacks and fumbled 16 times, he also tallied a whopping 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns on 160 carries.
Fields hasn't shown much growth this season, though. He's thrown for 11 touchdowns against six interceptions in six games, but he also lost two fumbles and got sacked 24 times. He publicly blamed his coaches for his "robotic play"—before later walking those comments back—and has missed the last three games while recovering from a dislocated thumb.
While the Bears have plenty of other issues to sort out, Fields' future with the franchise is in question after so many ugly games with him under center. They're currently in line for a chance to take one of Caleb Williams or Drake Maye, the top two quarterback prospects in this year's draft class.
The Bleacher Report Scouting Department had Williams going to Chicago in its latest mock draft, as the USC product "has some of the rarest arm talent from any quarterback prospect in the last decade." Given how much Fields has struggled when it comes to throwing the ball, a world-class passer like Williams could be just what the Bears need to contend again.
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New England Patriots
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Two years ago, Mac Jones seemed like a worthy heir to Tom Brady. He led the New England Patriots to a 10-7 record, guided them to the playoffs and earned a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie.
He hasn't been able to replicate that success ever since, though.
Jones went 6-8 as a starter last season while completing 65.2 percent of his passes for 2,997 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Some of the blame for his poor sophomore showing falls on head coach Bill Belichick and his head-scratching decision to bring in failed head coaches like Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to run the offense.
Belichick removed Patricia and Judge from their respective posts during the offseason and hired Bill O'Brien as his new offensive coordinator. Unfortunately, O'Brien hasn't been able to turn Jones' career back around.
Jones has gone 2-7 in his first nine starts. His completion percentage and yardage numbers are down, while his interception rate has spiked. The Pats offense went from bad to worse this year, as they're currently averaging only 289.4 yards per game (27th in the league), and their 15 points per game rank ahead of only the New York Giants.
It's becoming difficult to envision a path forward for the Patriots that involves Jones. While the team could replace O'Brien with yet another offensive coordinator—or even forge ahead with a new head coach by removing Belichick from his post—it's becoming more apparent than Jones is the main culprit behind these offensive woes.
While Jones has almost no trade value at this point, the Patriots haven't picked up his fifth-year option yet. If they end up with a pick at or near the top of the 2024 draft, the allure of Maye or Williams will likely be too great to ignore.
The Bleacher Report Scouting Department has Maye falling to New England at No. 5 overall in its latest mock draft. It would be borderline sabotage at this point for the Patriots not to take the North Carolina prospect if he's still available there.
New York Giants
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After a surprise run to the playoffs last year, the New York Giants signed Daniel Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract this offseason. That appears to have been a massive mistake.
Before Jones tore his ACL against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, he went 1-5 as a starter while completing 67.5 percent of his throws for 909 yards and two touchdowns with six interceptions and four fumbles. That was a significant drop-off from 2022, when he went 9-6-1 in the regular season while connecting on 67.2 percent of his throws for 3,205 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Jones had nearly as many turnovers across six games this season (seven) as he did across 16 games last year (eight). While the Giants bet that his 2022 performance would become standard fare, it now seems like that campaign will be remembered as an outlier.
The Giants can free up $19.4 million in cap savings if they release Jones following the 2024 season, but they'll still be left with a $22.2 million cap hit. They're unlikely to move on from him before then, as it's hard to imagine any other team being interested in him following a severe knee injury.
The G-Men could have a bevy of potential replacements to choose from this offseason. They're currently in line for the No. 4 overall pick, but they could move further up given their current options under center. Backup Tyrod Taylor is out with a rib injury, leaving undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito and Matt Barkley as the only healthy quarterbacks available.
The Athletic's Dan Duggan noted that general manager Joe Schoen has been keeping a close eye on the top quarterback prospects in the 2024 class, having scouted Drake Maye back in September and recently attending a pair of USC games to watch Caleb Williams. Schoen also got a good look at Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy last month.
Any of those three prospects would give the Giants a better chance than Jones to bring stability to a position that they've lacked since the retirement of Eli Manning.
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