There is a lot of pressure for NFL teams to find a quarterback. Finding one, especially in the draft, is a franchise-changing win. But that leads to a different kind of pressure in building a contender around that quarterback. Nobody wants to be known forever as the general manager who screwed up a great young QB’s prime.
The Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos entered last offseason with bad teams that missed the playoffs and had no quarterback. All of those teams drafted a QB, then saw success, but still had the pesky problem of a roster that that was far from complete. Even teams like the Commanders and Broncos, who made the playoffs with their rookie quarterbacks, weren’t far along in their rebuild and should enter this offseason with work to do. A team like the Patriots is practically starting from square two, having figured out the quarterback and little else.
Each franchise with a good quarterback on his rookie deal has to figure out a blueprint fast. The window before those QBs are making $60 million or more per season is short. A few missteps ruins that opportunity to quickly build a contender. There’s a lot of blame thrown around when that happens. That’s why, among the teams to watch this offseason, the ones with those young quarterbacks still making small salaries are the most interesting. What they do when free agency starts could help shape the NFL for the next few years.
Here is a ranking of the most interesting teams to watch as free agency begins on March 12:
