Who still needs their QB of the future? 8 teams with an eye on the 2026 NFL Draft

It’s no secret that next year's quarterback draft class is expected to be much better than the current one. There are more intriguing prospects, more developed talent and an overall better outlook on these prospects before they even play their potential final seasons in college.

There are familiar names playing out their final years of eligibility, like LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and Penn State’s Drew Allar. There are intriguing players expected to take another step forward, like South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers and Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt.

And then there's Texas’ Arch Manning, who's made just two college starts yet is currently projected by many to go No. 1 in next year's draft.

It's all welcome news for the teams across the league that need help at the position. It factored into this year’s strategy, too. There were teams that took a quarterback in later rounds that shouldn’t be precluded from taking another come next year.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what clubs are still unresolved at the most important position in sports — and likely eyeing the top QB prospects in the 2026 class.

RELATED: Ranking 2026 QB draft class: Is Arch Manning clear-cut No. 1 of a stacked bunch?

Pittsburgh Steelers

This is the most obvious one, considering the Steelers still don’t have an obvious starter for 2025 coming out of the draft. They’re obviously holding out for Aaron Rodgers’ services, but mum's the word from Rodgers. We're going on more than two months of him dragging out his decision on whether to retire, which makes it feel like the 41-year-old isn’t all-in on becoming a Steeler. Even if they do end up with Rodgers, it won’t be for the long term. 

The Steelers drafted Ohio State quarterback Will Howard in the sixth round in April. But Howard is likely just an insurance policy and not meant to fill the position long term, either.

Pittsburgh has had some success despite not having stability at the quarterback position since Ben Roethlisberger, but there’s been a cap on that success. The other issue is that the Steelers never finish with a losing record, so they don’t ever draft high enough in the first round to take a top quarterback.

After the George Pickens trade, though, Pittsburgh could finally be in position to get creative with a stockpile of picks. The move appeared at least partially motivated to move up in next year's draft. Given the state of their current QB room, spearheaded by Mason Rudolph, who's back after a one-year detour, the Steelers might be in prime position to finally take a quarterback early in next year's draft regardless.

Cleveland Browns

Cleveland’s gross mishandling of the position has long plagued the franchise, and it seems to be getting worse. With the club still dealing with the repercussions of handing out the largest guarantee in league history to a player with even more issues off the field than on it, the Browns went and spent two mid-round picks on quarterbacks this year.

General manager Andrew Berry admitted that the plan was never to take two players at the position, after drafting Dillon Gabriel in the third round and then inexplicably taking Shedeur Sanders amid his infamous slide to the fifth round. Now, the Browns have two untested rookies, Joe Flacco (who is assumed to be their starter) and Kenny Pickett, the former first-round pick that was practically given away by multiple teams and whom the Browns already declined the fifth-year option on.

None of those players has trade value, much less presents an answer to Cleveland’s signal-calling woes that the front office is confident in. They’ll likely have to wait for next year for that.

The good news is that the Browns should have every opportunity to get their preferred quarterback with not one but two first-round picks in 2026, thanks to the draft-day trade down with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Here’s to hoping the front office can finally get it right next time.

New York Jets

The Jets have given Justin Fields another chance, this time with a better offensive line and a couple of excellent weapons. But Fields’ two-year contract says he’s still on a trial basis in New York. It’s conceivable that the Jets will be in the hunt for a new starter after this year if Fields doesn’t quickly prove himself to be a viable long-term answer.

The Jets have also set themselves up well to develop a young quarterback with the investments they made in the offensive line over the past two years, including Armand Membou with the No. 7 overall pick in April. They got tight end Mason Taylor to be the quarterback’s best friend in the second round, too. Add in Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall in the backfield, and this could be a pretty potent offense.

If Fields doesn’t capitalize on it, New York will likely find itself drafting a QB with its first pick for the third time in nine years.

New Orleans Saints

With Derek Carr now retiring, and the Saints’ hopes riding on 2024 fifth-rounder Spencer Rattler and/or second-round rookie Tyler Shough, it’s not farfetched to think they could be back on the quarterback carousel next year. This makes it a near-certainty, in my book.

The Saints are also in cap hell nearly every season. They need to get younger and can’t really commit to a large QB contract, even if they wanted to go after a high-priced free agent. 

Drafting a quarterback, and saving money on a rookie contract, could prove to be their only viable long-term answer. But that's not the worst spot to be in considering how stacked next year’s quarterback class is supposed to be.

Indianapolis Colts

I don’t think it’s fair to say that the Anthony Richardson experiment is over, but it’s certainly not looking good. Not when a 39-year-old Joe Flacco was given six of your starts last year so that you could regroup in your second season. It's also interesting that the Colts are trying their hand at reviving Daniel Jones’ career and sending him into competition with Richardson in camp.

Are two projects better than one? At least the Colts have options, but no one will be surprised if they're looking for a QB reset next offseason. But this is a regime needing to win now and a franchise that hasn't drafted in the top 10 the past two years because it's won a combined 17 games. In other words, the field to move up could become extremely competitive come the first night of next year's draft.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

New York Giants

The Giants have two potential starting quarterbacks, and as one of my favorites, Bruce Arians, used to tell me: "If you have two quarterbacks, you have none."

Russell Wilson doesn’t look to be the long-term answer. Jameis Winston probably won’t be either. The Giants did just take Jaxson Dart in the first round, but that could have easily been the front office’s attempt to save face.

If 2025 doesn’t go well in New York, and a regime change is in order, how willing would a new general manager be to stake his livelihood on a developmental QB prospect he didn’t draft?

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams will be on this list as long as Matthew Stafford is maybe in his last season. The rumors are (and have been) that Stafford has mulled retirement already. It likely means he isn’t far off, and Les Snead and Sean McVay aren’t the types to wait around before they come up with a contingency plan. Given the saturation of good quarterback prospects next year, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rams draft Stafford’s heir apparent early.

San Francisco 49ers

This might be a weird one, but the Niners still haven’t paid Brock Purdy. They still have a loaded offense, if Christian McCaffrey comes back healthy, and Kyle Shanahan’s offense is known for being quarterback-friendly. If they could find their current starter in the seventh round, who’s to say they can’t find a new one in the 2026 draft instead of annually paying Purdy $55 million-plus?

Of course, this all becomes a moot point if they extend Purdy. Until then, don't rule out the Niners dabbling in the QB draft sweepstakes next April.

Carmen Vitali is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV. 

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