No matter how many answers the NFL offseason provides, questions always remain. Especially about quarterbacks.
Sure, your team might be all set at QB, but there might be questions around your quarterback or about his long-term situation. You might think your team is set at quarterback but have some reason still to be unsure. You might have no idea what your team is doing at quarterback this season, next season or five years from now.
That's why we do this annual June exercise -- examining the quarterback-specific questions that still confront each team with three months left before the start of the NFL season. Some might feel more urgent and dire than others, but every team has at least some issue to resolve. So, without further ado, 32 questions about 32 quarterbacks.
Jump to a team:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LV | LAC | LAR | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH
Arizona Cardinals
Who even is the quarterback?
This one is as basic as QB questions get. The Cardinals don't know for sure who'll be starting for them in Week 1, Week 10 or Week 18. And they definitely don't know who'll be starting for them in 2027 and beyond. Kyler Murray was released. Jacoby Brissett, who finished last season as the starter, reported to mandatory minicamp after holding out of the team's offseason program since he wasn't happy about his contract. Veteran Gardner Minshew II signed as a free agent. Arizona drafted Carson Beck in the third round, and Kedon Slovis is still kicking around.
It's hard to blame Brissett for wanting a raise. He's slated to make $4.88 million this year. Only $1.5 million of that is guaranteed, and the most he can make if he hits all of his incentives is $7.39 million. Broncos backup Jarrett Stidham makes more. Minshew has more guaranteed money in 2026. If Brissett is going to be the starter, he deserves at least low-level starter money. But the Cardinals have a new coach in Mike LaFleur, who wasn't there when Brissett stepped in for an injured Murray and put up 3,366 passing yards and 23 touchdowns.
At some point this season, Arizona likely wants to find out what it has in Beck before figuring out its 2027 draft plan. Any one -- or all -- of these guys could start games for the Cardinals in 2026, and the end result might be even more questions after the season.
Atlanta Falcons
Is Michael Penix Jr. in trouble?
The eighth pick in the 2024 draft, Penix finished as the starter that season and began 2025 as the QB1. But he had only 1,982 passing yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions before a serious knee injury ended his season after nine games.
The Falcons fired GM Terry Fontenot and coach Raheem Morris this offseason, and the new regime carries no draft-based loyalty to Penix. Atlanta signed former Dolphins starter Tua Tagovailoa, and right now he's the healthier of the two players.
Could Tagovailoa show enough this summer to become the favorite to start, even once Penix is healthy again? And if so, does that mean Penix's long-term future is already in doubt? New coach Kevin Stefanski went through more than his share of QB competitions and questions in Cleveland. He'd surely like some clarity here sooner rather than later.
Baltimore Ravens
How long should we expect Lamar Jackson to stay in Baltimore?
He's saying the right things, and on its face the idea of the Ravens moving on from their two-time MVP quarterback seems ludicrous. But Jackson has two years left on his contract, the team went to him to talk about an extension this offseason that would have significantly helped it manage the salary cap but didn't get one done, and things got ugly the last time the Ravens went through this with Jackson.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Ravens and Jackson announced an agreement on a new extension at any point this year. But if we get all the way through the coming season without an extension, the questions about Jackson's future in Baltimore -- whether from his end or the team's -- will only get louder.
Baltimore has a new coach in Jesse Minter and a new offensive coordinator in Declan Doyle. There are high hopes for the offense, but if it doesn't come together, will Jackson be even less eager to do an extension next spring than he was this spring? And if so, do the Ravens look at trading him next offseason? Again, we could be panicking over nothing. But keep these questions in the back of your mind until there's word of a new deal.
Buffalo Bills
Is D.J. Moore the receiver Josh Allen needs to elevate the offense?
Lots of change in Buffalo this offseason, too, as longtime coach Sean McDermott was fired and replaced by offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Allen's relationship with Brady shouldn't be a problem since they've worked together for years. But questions remain about the group around Allen, specifically whether he has enough at wide receiver.
Two years after trading away Stefon Diggs, the Bills are still looking for a true No. 1 wideout. Trading a second-round pick to the Bears in March for Moore, an eight-year veteran with three 90-catch seasons and four 1,000-yard seasons on his résumé, is a move the Bills hope addresses that issue. Buffalo knows what it has in Khalil Shakir, but 2024 second-round pick Keon Coleman has been a disappointment, and injuries have kept 2023 first-round tight end Dalton Kincaid from emerging as the consistent receiving threat Buffalo hoped he'd be. Moore will have plenty of opportunity to make a major impact in this offense as the (delayed) Diggs replacement.
Carolina Panthers
Can Bryce Young level up again?
It says a lot about this offseason that this is the first team in our alphabetical list that didn't change head coaches. The Panthers went 8-9 in the regular season but won the NFC South and took the Rams to the wire in the wild-card round. Young, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, set career highs in completion percentage, passing yards and passing touchdowns. He looked like a player who has made real advancement in his second season under Dave Canales.
The questions are whether the Panthers can build on the success they had last season and, most importantly, whether Young can lead the offense for the long term. He's extension-eligible for the first time this offseason, but the team has made no move in that direction after picking up his fifth-year option. It feels fair for Carolina to want to see continued improvement and development -- from Young and from the roster in general. If Young takes another step forward and the Panthers get over .500 and continue to contend for a playoff spot, we could be looking at a Young extension in 2027.
Chicago Bears
Can Caleb Williams improve in the boring parts of the game?
What we remember about Williams' second season are the wow throws. The fourth-quarter and overtime heroics. The fact that the Bears, like the Panthers, made the Rams work extremely hard to win a playoff game. What we might not remember is that Williams finished 32nd in the NFL in completion percentage (behind Cam Ward and ahead of only J.J. McCarthy) and 32nd in off-target rate (behind McCarthy and ahead of only Penix). So, there's still room for him to improve in spite of how awesome he was to watch in those big spots last season.
It will be Williams' second season with Ben Johnson as his coach, and the first season offered promise of wonderful things to come. What could determine Williams' (and Johnson's) long-term success is how Williams improves in the more basic parts of the game (i.e., accuracy). If that happens, the Bears won't need quite as many of those fourth-quarter hero throws.
Cincinnati Bengals
Can Joe Burrow stay healthy all season?
The Bengals return all 11 offensive starters. They spent the offseason beefing up a defense that has been the main reason for their recent underachievement. They are the only team in their division that did not change head coaches this offseason. And their schedule ranks the third easiest in the league, based on the 2025 record of their opponents.
It is all set up for Burrow & Co. to finally return to the postseason, and maybe even make another run at the Super Bowl title that eluded them five seasons ago. But as great as Burrow is when he's on the field, he has to do a better job of staying there. He has missed at least six games due to injury in three of his six NFL seasons. He missed nine last year.
The Bengals have had well-documented pass protection issues during Burrow's time in Cincinnati, but he also hasn't always been the best about protecting himself. Burrow is surrounded with high-level talent on offense, including the league's best wide receiver tandem in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. If the defensive additions bring that unit back to respectability and the offense continues to hum, this is a dangerous team. But it's on Burrow to answer the bell for every game.
Cleveland Browns
It's the same question every year. What's the plan at QB?
Shedeur Sanders, the Browns' fifth-round pick in the 2025 draft, finished last season as the starter and is in contention to retain that role under new coach Todd Monken. But Deshaun Watson, who signed that fully guaranteed $230 million contract back in 2022 as a condition of the trade that sent him to Cleveland from Houston, is healthy and also competing for the starting job.
It's the final year of Watson's disastrous contract, and even if he does win the job, it's hard to imagine anything short of a 17-0, Super Bowl-winning season convincing the Browns to bring him back in 2027. They just acquired an additional first-round pick in next year's draft from the Rams in the Myles Garrett trade, so they're positioned to try to find their long-term solution there.
In the meantime, can Watson show enough at this point to convince them to start him all year? Can Sanders play enough -- and well enough -- to convince them they don't need to draft a long-term answer in the 2027 draft? Is Dillon Gabriel still part of this mix? The Browns have seemingly been in QB purgatory forever, and unfortunately, it doesn't feel as if the 2026 season is going to be the one that gets them out of it.
Dallas Cowboys
Can Dak Prescott finally add playoff success to his résumé?
This will be Prescott's 11th season as the Cowboys' starter. In that time, he has a record of 83-55-1 in the regular season but is just 2-5 in the playoffs. Last season marked the eighth time Prescott played at least 12 games but the first of those eight in which Dallas had a losing record. It's easy for fans to wonder whether he'll ever attain the postseason success they expect, especially if the Cowboys again struggle to even contend for the postseason. But if we assume that the defense is improved and that Prescott stays healthy, the Cowboys should be in good position to return to the playoffs.
It might not be totally fair to posit a question that can't be answered until January at the earliest, but Prescott is one of the most established, entrenched starters in the league. There aren't many more questions for him to answer. Except the big one.
Denver Broncos
Does the Jaylen Waddle addition elevate Bo Nix to another level?
We'll never know what might have happened in the AFC Championship Game if Nix hadn't broken his ankle in the previous week's divisional round victory over Buffalo. But the Broncos feel justifiably confident in their roster, making few roster changes other than trading for Waddle, the former first-round wideout.
Indications are that Nix should be OK in time for training camp coming off the ankle injury, so it's full steam ahead for a team with the highest of aspirations. Nix finished 15th in the league in QBR and 28th in yards per attempt last season. So, although he was obviously what the Broncos needed him to be, there's clearly some room for improvement.
Waddle could unlock more of Denver's offense, as its receivers ranked 27th in yards per reception last season (11.7). If the addition works out, Nix could have the Broncos right back on the doorstep of the Super Bowl.
Detroit Lions
Will new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing get Jared Goff back to his 2024 level?
Last year's question in this space was "Can Jared Goff overcome all of the changes in Detroit?" -- and the answer was a resounding "No." After a 15-2 regular season and an early-round playoff exit in 2024, the Lions lost offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to the Bears and dealt with significant turnover on their offensive line. Goff wasn't terrible, but he did post his lowest QBR since his first season in Detroit (before Johnson took over as coordinator), and the Lions finished 9-8 to miss the playoffs.
There are more changes this season, as Petzing comes from Arizona to replace John Morton. And the team is likely moving star right tackle Penei Sewell to left tackle. Goff is signed with the Lions through 2028, so his title window remains wide open. The Lions' schedule also projects as the sixth easiest in the league, based on the 2025 record of their opponents. If Goff takes to Petzing's offense and coach Dan Campbell doesn't have to take over offensive playcalling again, the Lions could find themselves back at their 2024 heights.
Green Bay Packers
Is there more pressure than ever on Jordan Love?
In 2025, Love posted the best QBR (72.7) and passer rating (101.2) from his three seasons as Green Bay's starter. He also missed two games due to injury for the second year in a row, and the Packers fizzled at the end of the season following an injury to defensive superstar Micah Parsons.
The Packers will return basically the same group of wide receivers in 2026, but they lost some key players on defense and on the offensive line. There are availability questions surrounding running back Josh Jacobs after he was arrested on domestic abuse allegations. Parsons has come out and said he won't be recovered until October. The defense has a new coordinator in Jonathan Gannon and could need time to get up to speed in the new system, especially without Parsons.
More than ever in Green Bay, Love will be asked to pick up some of the slack for the rest of the roster. He's under pressure to stay healthy, to elevate his wide receiver group and maybe to help the offense carry the defense a little bit -- at least early in the season.
The Packers play in a brutally tough division and always have high expectations. This will be a big year for Love to show if he's the guy who can deliver on them.
Houston Texans
Can C.J. Stroud play his way into a contract extension?
Stroud is a fascinating case. Our last memory of him was an almost impossibly poor performance in the Texans' divisional round loss to the Patriots. He wasn't much better the week before in a wild-card victory over the Steelers.
Eligible for a contract extension for the first time this offseason, Stroud still doesn't have one. It feels like the Texans -- who are usually early and proactive with their extensions -- want to see how 2026 goes before handing that one out. It's possible Stroud also wants to wait and put himself in a stronger negotiating position with a big season.
Last season, Stroud posted the highest single-season completion percentage (64.5%) and QBR (61.7) of his career, but he also had career lows in passing yards (3,041) and touchdowns (19). The team hasn't been able to build him a consistent run game or a reliable offensive line, which could partly explain why he has struggled to regain his rookie form. But if he doesn't bounce back from last season's disappointing end, then the extension conversations could get pretty awkward despite three straight trips to the divisional round.
Indianapolis Colts
Did they make the right decision by bringing back Daniel Jones?
Jones had the Colts' offense humming early in 2025 before injuries ultimately ended his season with four games to go. Indy crumbled, losing seven straight games to finish the season and miss the playoffs after an 8-2 start.
This offseason, the Colts opted to keep Jones off the free agent market with the transition tag before signing him to a two-year, $88 million extension. The move was already forecasted at last year's trade deadline, as they traded two first-round picks for cornerback Sauce Gardner -- indicating a lack of interest in looking for a quarterback in the 2026 or 2027 drafts.
Now, Jones is coming off a major injury. The backup is untested Riley Leonard. Anthony Richardson Sr., the fourth pick in the 2023 draft, is still there but doesn't want to be. The Colts need Jones to be healthy, which he has struggled to be throughout his NFL career. And they need him to perform the way he did before his injury, when he was among the top eight in completion percentage (68%) and Total QBR (63).
There were other options on the QB market, but the Colts never wavered. They'd better hope that was the right decision. Jobs and the future direction of the franchise are riding on it.
Jacksonville Jaguars
What's the next step for Trevor Lawrence and coach Liam Coen?
The hiring of Coen was a home run for Lawrence and the Jaguars in Year 1. Lawrence finished fifth in MVP voting after leading Jacksonville to a 13-4 record and an AFC South title. So, the inevitable question regards the encore.
Coen has said that, at last year's bye week, the coaching staff decided to lean more on what Lawrence was already doing well and save the stuff he still needed to work on for the offseason. That stuff includes being more effective with the deep ball, which the Jaguars hope will return wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. to his rookie-season heights.
The trade-deadline addition of Jakobi Meyers and the emergence of Parker Washington deepened Lawrence's receiver corps. The return from injury of 2025 first-round pick Travis Hunter should help in that department even more (assuming he doesn't have to play too much cornerback). But Thomas is the real X factor as the team's first-round pick in 2024 and offers No. 1 wideout potential if he and Lawrence can get on track together. We'll all watch to see if Coen can continue to position the Jaguars as an AFC threat.
Kansas City Chiefs
When will Patrick Mahomes play, and how long until he looks like himself?
Before 2025, the earliest a Mahomes-led Chiefs season had ended was overtime of an AFC Championship Game. But the program finally went off the rails, as Mahomes tore his left ACL in Week 15, Kansas City finished 6-11 and the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
So far, all reports about Mahomes' rehab have been positive and encouraging. A Week 1 return feels like a strong possibility. The question then becomes whether the injury affects him moving forward, and if so for how long.
The Chiefs did a lot to strengthen their defense this offseason, and they made the big-splash signing of Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III at running back. But they still haven't done much with the wide receiver group, and tight end Travis Kelce has slowed down late in his career. So the Chiefs still need Mahomes to be their difference-maker. The sooner he looks like his old self, the sooner we can get back to talking about the Chiefs as Super Bowl contenders.
Las Vegas Raiders
When will Fernando Mendoza start?
Even before they officially selected Mendoza, the Raiders were telling people they didn't want to start him right away. They want him to sit, practice, learn and be ready to hit the ground running when they do make him the starter. They backed up this talk by signing veteran Kirk Cousins, who could get the Week 1 start and continue as the starter until the team deems Mendoza ready.
Of course, this is far from the first time we've heard a team talk and plan this way around a first-round quarterback. What inevitably happens is that the team starts losing games and faces pressure to play the rookie sooner than it said it wanted to. (Very often, the rookie plays well enough to convince us the team had nothing to worry about.)
Unless the Cousins-led Raiders shock us all by starting out hot and staying in contention all season, we're going to see Mendoza at some point. Heck, if he looks good enough in training camp, we could see him start in Week 1. But as of right now, the questions are about when he'll be ready and how long the Raiders can wait before they feel like they have to play him.
Los Angeles Chargers
What will the Mike McDaniel offense do for Justin Herbert?
In 2022, McDaniel's first year as Dolphins head coach, Tagovailoa's QBR shot up from 55.7 to 70.6. He led the league that season in passer rating, yards per attempt and yards per completion. In 2023, Tagovailoa led the league in passing yards. In 2024, he led the league in completion percentage.
Miami didn't have team success the past two seasons, which is why McDaniel is no longer there and is now the Chargers' offensive coordinator, but it's pretty well accepted that Herbert offers more athletic upside than Tagovailoa. So it's exciting to imagine what McDaniel can unlock in Herbert.
Getting star offensive tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater back healthy will be critical to protecting Herbert more than the Chargers did last season (which is to say, not at all). And assuming the rest of the offensive line upgrades take hold, McDaniel should find ways to accentuate Herbert's unique abilities. This could be his best season yet.
Los Angeles Rams
What happens if Matthew Stafford gets hurt?
Yeah, yeah, I know. You can say this about pretty much any team -- it's in trouble if its quarterback gets hurt. And Stafford missed zero games last season even after a training camp during which it felt like his back issue was potentially season-threatening. He won the MVP award and led the Rams to the NFC Championship Game.
What am I so worried about? Well, Stafford is 38 years old. He managed his back issue well, but it's still something that has to be monitored -- and my personal experience tells me back issues don't get better as you get older. Add to this the fact that the backup looks like it'll be Ty Simpson, the very controversial 13th pick who is there more for the future than for the present.
On paper, the Rams look like an absolute monster. Stafford is playing the best football of his career in his late 30s. But so much of what they do is built around what he can do, making them feel ill-equipped to handle any potential absence. Last year, they had veteran Jimmy Garoppolo as a backup. This year, as of now, it's Simpson and Stetson Bennett IV. The Rams had better make sure that weird Airstream-like thing that helped get him on the practice field last summer is still working.
Miami Dolphins
To whom, exactly, is Malik Willis going to throw the ball?
The new Dolphins regime, led by GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley, made a big splash in free agency by signing Willis, the former Packers backup, to a three-year, $67.5 million contract. Miami also released Tyreek Hill and traded away Waddle, leaving the wide receiver corps without its two best players from the previous regime.
Malik Washington is the most prominent holdover in the group. The Dolphins added Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell, who were tertiary options at best on their previous teams. Then they drafted Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell in the third round, but Bell is coming off a major injury and could be more of a long-term play.
This is a receiver group with some talent and promise but very little proven production. The Dolphins' hope is that one or two strong options emerge for Willis, or else the answer to this question could continue being running back De'Von Achane.
Minnesota Vikings
How will this mess sort itself out?
After 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy flopped in his first season as a starter, the Vikings added former Cardinals QB Kyler Murray as a minimum-salary free agent. They also brought back Carson Wentz, who played well in relief of an injured McCarthy last season until he got injured. McCarthy is still there, too.
It's an open competition in Minnesota, and the team isn't overly committed to any of these guys. Murray is signed for only one year and has a no-franchise-tag clause. McCarthy is a season away from his fifth-year option decision. Wentz is a veteran journeyman working his way back from injury. New general manager Nolan Teasley, who was still in Seattle's front office when the Vikings executed this offseason plan, said in his introductory news conference that the plan was to build a deep, competitive QB room and that he believes they did.
A starter will emerge from this group, and any time the Kevin O'Connell-led Vikings have had reliable quarterback play, they've been a strong contender. The question is who can deliver that reliable quarterback play. McCarthy, who struggled badly with injuries and effectiveness in his first shot? Murray, whom the Cardinals are paying $36 million to play for someone else? Lots of questions around this situation, and there's no guarantee we won't be asking a lot more of them next offseason.
New England Patriots
Can A.J. Brown be Drake Maye's Stefon Diggs?
Weird question, I guess, because Maye had Diggs last season. But what I specifically mean is, can Brown be for Maye what Diggs was years ago for Josh Allen in Buffalo?
The Bills' acquisition of Diggs in 2020 helped vault Allen into the top tier of the league's quarterbacks. You could argue that Maye is already there, as he finished second in MVP voting in just his second season. But acquiring Brown from the Eagles in last week's long-anticipated trade gives Maye a special type of physical, proven No. 1 wide receiver that last year's Patriots did not have (and most teams don't).
As the Patriots look to build on their surprising Super Bowl season, they are trying to find areas in which they can go from good to championship-caliber great. Wide receiver was one of the positions that offered that opportunity, and if Maye can make the most of what Brown offers, we could see the Patriots' offense ascend to another level in 2026.
New Orleans Saints
Have the Saints put enough players around Tyler Shough to contend already?
After elevating Shough to the starting QB role midway through his rookie season, the Saints won four of their last five games to finish 6-11. Shough's performance left the Saints and their fans excited to see more in 2026, and the team worked to build out the offense around him this offseason. New Orleans signed running back Travis Etienne Jr. and guard David Edwards in free agency, then used the No. 8 pick in the draft on wide receiver Jordyn Tyson.
These are the actions of a team that's fired up about its young quarterback and wants to maximize his rookie contract window. The Saints play in a division in which all four teams had losing records last season, so it's not a major stretch to imagine they could have improved enough to win it behind Shough and second-year head coach Kellen Moore. At the very least, the arrow appears to be pointing up.
New York Giants
Can Jaxson Dart learn how to protect himself?
Dart did enough last year to excite the fanbase and show why the Giants traded up to take him in the first round of the 2025 draft. He has franchise-quarterback stuff and should continue to improve as long as he can stay on the field. But that's the key.
Dart spent an alarming amount of time in the blue medical tent last season, and the Giants have spent a good amount of their time trying to impress upon him the importance of being available. Whether he heeds those lessons and learns to protect himself better -- especially when he takes off and runs -- will determine how long and successful his career can be. And it will determine whether the Giants can finally break out of the dreary cycle in which they've spent the past decade and a half.
New York Jets
Are all eyes really just on next year?
When it comes to quarterback, the answer definitely appears to be yes. The Jets traded for veteran (and former Jet) Geno Smith to be this year's starter, and they drafted Clemson's Cade Klubnik in the fourth round. Brady Cook is still on the team, and they also added veteran backup Bailey Zappe. I guess it's possible Klubnik could get into some games this season and show enough that they think about moving forward with him as the long-term starter, but that seems unlikely given where they drafted him and because Smith seems set as the 2026 starter.
The Jets, importantly, have three first-round picks in the 2027 draft, which is the one everyone seems to have their eyes on for franchise-QB solutions. That inventory means that they don't necessarily have to "tank" to land the guy they want. Three first-round picks should enable the Jets to move around the draft in any number of ways to finally find their long-term answer.
Smith is there to help them stay competitive while second-year coach Aaron Glenn works to establish a winning culture. But Smith turns 36 in October and obviously isn't the long-term solution they're looking for.
Philadelphia Eagles
Is Jalen Hurts' future in Philly on the line this season?
It would feel terribly unfair if it were, given that Hurts was the Super Bowl MVP 16 months ago, they just traded away his best wide receiver and he has to learn a new offense for the foreverth offseason in a row. But this is Philadelphia, and Hurts knows very well that the Eagles are willing to move on at key positions when things aren't working. That's how he got the job in the first place, when the Eagles decided to get rid of Wentz shortly after signing him to a big new extension.
Hurts has three years left on his contract and $22 million in guaranteed money set for 2027. But we've already heard rumblings out of Philly this offseason about Hurts' level of perceived responsibility for the offense's 2025 struggles. And those rumblings will only get louder if the offense struggles again in 2026.
Hurts is a willing pupil, and he's working diligently to learn and master the Sean Mannion offense this offseason. His career has been defined by his willingness and ability to make himself a better player in specific ways the organization has asked of him. Some years, the new offense in Philly works great. Other years, it does not. Which will this be? And if it's the latter, what does that mean for Hurts' future with the Eagles?
Pittsburgh Steelers
Are we really doing this again?
There isn't a playoff-type team that has taken the quarterback position less seriously than the Steelers have over the past three years. It's as if the Kenny Pickett first-round flop broke their will and they've decided it's just not worth it to try for real answers.
Back in 2023, they started Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph at various points in the season, went 10-7, finished third in their division, and lost in the first round of the playoffs. In 2024, they went with the Justin Fields/Russell Wilson combo, went 10-7, finished second in their division, and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Last year, they passed on the likes of Sam Darnold and Smith in free agency, signed 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers, went 10-7, finished first in their division, and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
It's been 10 years since the Steelers have won a playoff game, and the frustration got to be too much for coach Mike Tomlin, who stepped down after 19 seasons. In came Mike McCarthy to replace him, and the Steelers are going in this time with a 42-year-old Rodgers who's coming off the most meh seasons in the history of meh. They also have Will Howard, who was their sixth-round pick in 2025, and Drew Allar, who was their third-round pick in this year's draft. Rudolph is still around, too.
The overall roster looks better than it did a year ago, but the coaching change and the refusal to look anywhere else but Rodgers for a QB solution make Pittsburgh feel like a franchise with a ceiling that is well established at this point.
San Francisco 49ers
How will Brock Purdy's new WR corps shake out?
The 49ers' relationship with Brandon Aiyuk appears to be over, one way or the other. Jauan Jennings signed a one-year deal with the Vikings. The Niners added veterans Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in free agency. Ricky Pearsall, their first-round pick from 2024, is obviously still there. And they drafted De'Zhaun Stribling in the second round.
It's an interesting collection of receivers with a lot of talent and a variety of potential roles. At this point, the questions about Purdy himself have mainly been answered. He missed half of last season with a right toe injury but has proved to be one of the most effective, winning quarterbacks in the league when healthy. With tight end George Kittle still working his way back from his torn Achilles in the playoffs and running back Christian McCaffrey coming off a 450-touch season, the development and definition of this wide receiver group will be important as the season unfolds.
Seattle Seahawks
Is there a big contract extension in Sam Darnold's future?
Winning a championship often puts a quarterback in line for a contract bump, but Darnold didn't get one after leading the Seahawks to their second Super Bowl title. He signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with Seattle last offseason and boosted that by $4 million by hitting all of the performance- and playoff-related incentives in his contract. He's slated to make $27.5 million this year, and that $4 million in incentives is available to him once again. He has no money guaranteed beyond 2026 because the Seahawks don't build future-year guarantees into their veteran contracts. But if Darnold is on the team in 2027, he'd be scheduled to earn $35.5 million.
I'd still be surprised if the Seahawks made any changes to Darnold's deal before this season starts. But assuming it goes well again (and no, they don't have to win the Super Bowl for that to happen), it's possible they end up talking extension with him next spring. Darnold just turned 29 last Friday, so he could have a lot of good football still ahead of him.
The Seahawks are deliberate about the way in which they value quarterbacks, and Darnold's contract reflects that. But that's not to say a second strong season couldn't change their minds and earn him a deal that gets a little closer to the top of the market.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
What do the Bucs do with Baker Mayfield's contract?
This is a very similar situation to the Darnold/Seahawks situation, and not just because Darnold's three-year, $100.5 million contract was modeled largely after the three-year, $100 million deal Mayfield signed with the Bucs during the 2024 free agency period. Mayfield has been what the Bucs hoped he would be, and they're paying him just below top-tier QB money ($33 million rather than the $55 million range). But Mayfield has just one year and $27 million left on his deal, and it's odd to see a team go into the season with its starting quarterback months away from free agency.
It's hard to know how this situation will shake out. Tampa Bay likes Mayfield and would keep him around, but he might feel he has outplayed his current deal and ask for more than the team wants to pay him. Mayfield and the Bucs also are coming off a disappointing season, so he and/or they might want to see how 2026 goes before making a major decision.
If I had to guess, I'd say the Bucs find a way to make some kind of adjustment to Mayfield's deal before the season starts, but I can't say for sure that adjustment will be a long-term extension. A lot still feels up in the air right now.
Tennessee Titans
What will Brian Daboll be able to do for Cam Ward?
The former Giants coach who spearheaded the team's draft pursuit of Dart in 2025, Daboll is now Tennessee's offensive coordinator. As such, he is tasked with the development of Ward, who was the No. 1 pick in that same draft and showed a lot of promise in his rookie season. The Giants had the No. 3 pick in the 2025 draft and made an effort to trade up for Ward, but the Titans weren't selling the pick. But now Daboll gets to work with him anyway.
Tennessee's hope is that Ward makes the kind of jump Allen did early in his career when Daboll was offensive coordinator in Buffalo, or he has the kind of season Jones had in Daboll's first season with the Giants. The Titans added a lot to their disappointing wide receiver room in the hopes of building something quickly around Ward. Daboll's résumé tells us he should be able to identify Ward's strengths and weaknesses, designing a playbook that helps him thrive as early as this season.
Washington Commanders
Have they done enough to take the pressure off Jayden Daniels?
Daniels was a revelation as a rookie in 2024, leading the Commanders all the way to the NFC Championship Game, but his second season was a letdown. He played in only seven games due to various injuries. The defense fell off a cliff completely, and the offense sputtered with wide receiver Terry McLaurin also in and out of the lineup all year.
Major changes followed to the coaching staff, giving Daniels a new offensive coordinator in David Blough, who was Washington's assistant quarterbacks coach the past two seasons. Stylistically, the Commanders expect the offense to look more like what Ben Johnson ran in Detroit and is now running in Chicago. The hope is those changes and their offseason additions reduce the need for Daniels to make as many hero plays as he had to make during their 2024 run.
One problem is that the Commanders didn't make any major additions to the WR group, which means they're counting on McLaurin staying healthy, as well as big contributions from journeyman Treylon Burks and third-round rookie Antonio Williams. They added free agent running back Rachaad White to play the role Austin Ekeler was supposed to play last season before his Achilles injury. The major changes were on defense, where Washington projects to have as many as seven new starters -- led by first-round rookie linebacker Sonny Styles. The Commanders hope the improvements on that side of the ball will help ease the pressure on Daniels as he works to return to his rookie-year form.
