The 2024 free-agency frenzy, which started five weeks ago today, included plenty of veteran quarterbacks. Next March, there could be even more.
Already, three starting quarterbacks from 2023 playoff teams are entering the final year of their current contracts: Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Lions quarterback Jared Goff, and Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
The franchise tag will be available for Goff and Tagovailoa. Prescott, without a new deal, will hit the market.
Then there’s Steelers quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, the two top quarterbacks for a 2023 playoff team that blew up the depth chart. Both are due to be free agents in 2025.
Plenty of others could be available, if they are released from current deals. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, Saints quarterback Derek Carr, and Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers land squarely in that bucket. (Rodgers has said that everyone is on the hot seat in New York this year, including him.)
Other names to watch include Trey Lance, Sam Darnold, Jacoby Brissett, Drew Lock, Marcus Mariota, Zach Wilson, Mike White, Jake Browning, Case Keenum, Davis Mills, Mac Jones, Mason Rudolph, Carson Wentz, Jarrett Stidham, Jameis Winston, Joe Flacco, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Andy Dalton.
There’s one other name to watch. Deshaun Watson. If he doesn’t give the Browns a significant return in the third year of his five-year, fully guaranteed deal, will the Browns move on?
If they do, they’ll definitely have options to replace him, either from free agency or the draft.