This NFL offseason promises to have plenty of quarterback movement intrigue. Will Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson be traded? How will the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Pittsburgh Steelers replace retired legends Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, respectively? Will teams on the cusp of contention make a big change, and who will land the top free agents and draft prospects at the QB position? We decided to play out how it might all happen.
First, we looked for teams that could theoretically make a change this offseason, and 20 of the 32 franchises jumped out. Then we asked our NFL Nation reporters to serve as GMs for their teams and decide what to do at their most important position. The stand-in GMs put together trade packages for Rodgers, Wilson and others. They pitched offers to free agents (national reporter Dan Graziano played player rep to "sign" new deals here). And finally, they mocked the first two rounds of the 2022 draft to address the future.
We kept this exercise to quarterbacks who will either start or compete to start in 2022, with the exception of a few QBs in this draft class who might sit right out of the gate. And the object for this project wasn't to "win" negotiations but rather to accurately reflect how a team might approach the QB market. (We did not include Deshaun Watson in this market simulation since his legal issues are still unresolved.)
So which teams landed a new starting quarterback? Let's predict this offseason's QB movement with some hypothetical trade offers, free-agent signings and draft picks.
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