NFL insider Jason La Canfora: The QB-searching teams counting down to 2027
Posted on: June 15, 2026, 06:14h.
Last updated on: June 15, 2026, 06:20h.
Key highlights:
- On the Cleveland Browns: “There is not a starting QB on their roster,” one advance scout told me.
- On Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh: “Perhaps he is benched or gets hurt or their season spirals away to the point where 2025 draft pick Will Howard gets to play. “Mike loves him,” one team source said of the relationship between new coach Mike McCarthy and Howard.”
- On Lamar Jackson: “If he’s not extended by Week 1, I think he’s gone (in 2027),” one longtime personnel exec said.”
- On the Houston Texans: “We doubt they are in any rush to extend QB CJ Stroud. “He’s playing out this year and maybe the fifth-year option (in 2027) for me,” the personnel exec said, after Stroud’s play declined the past two years after a shocking rookie year.”
*Aaron Rodgers pictured in 2021 at Lambeau Field; this is confirmed to be his final NFL season, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
NFL scouts are already dreaming about the 2027 quarterback draft – expected to be exponentially deeper and better than recent vintages – and some teams are already operating with an eye to addressing their lingering issue at that position then.
General managers are peeking at projections of potential free agent passers for next year (not a pretty list) and agents for current NFL quarterbacks and those likely to be selected high next spring are assessing the marketplace and which franchises are going to be most desperate to add one.
It’s a quarterback-driven league and even after the flurry of transactions regarding QBs this offseason, most were stop-gaps or look-sees more than they were anything close to a permanent solution. Conversations with those execs and agents around the league pointed to over a third of the 32 teams in the NFL being potentially on the move for a new starting QB in 2027, with at least a quarter of the league fairly certain to be in that mix.
Some are trying to obscure it a little more than others and some franchises are frankly making tanking their brand for 2026. Here’s how to categorize them as NFL minicamps conclude and vacation season begins in pro football.
Sure Things or Almost Certain
Arizona: Execs believe the Cardinals will continue selling off veteran players, their current starting QB, Jacoby Brissett, is in a contract dispute with them, and they just hired a novice head coach who they hope can grow into the job over a period of years. “Total rebuild,” as one GM put it. The Cardinals aren’t really pretending they want to compete in the dominant NFC West this season and will take a QB as high as possible.
Cleveland: The Cardinals of the AFC after trading Myles Garrett to the Rams. More trades will follow. The owner wants Deshaun Watson to start because he’s cost him $230M for nothing but self-inflicted misery.
“There is not a starting QB on their roster,” one advance scout told me. And they love to draft QBs in general in that front office.
NY Jets: Geno Smith appeared to be quite cooked with the Raiders last season. They have built up everything else on the roster on offense around the QB. “Best offseason they’ve had in a long, long time,” another GM said. But they aren’t really trying to hide they want Arch Manning or someone like him for next year.
Pittsburgh: Aaron Rodgers might as well have already retired. No one is buying that worked in 2026. Perhaps he is benched or gets hurt or their season spirals away to the point where 2025 draft pick Will Howard gets to play. And maybe he shines and that alters the course. “Mike loves him,” one team source said of the relationship between new coach Mike McCarthy and Howard. But that’s a lot of ifs.
Atlanta: I don’t know an exec in this game who would want Tua Tagovailoa to start for him right now. And new coach Kevin Stefanski has had some success improving some quarterbacks, but I doubt this works. Perhaps youngster Michael Penix Jr. comes back from surgery and makes strides, but this is already a complicated situation and a coach with the power than Stefanski is going to draft his guy soon enough.
Sorting Through Lame-Duck Situations
Minnesota: Former first-round pick JJ McCarthy probably isn’t going to be around for long: “I think he’s gone by the deadline,” the first GM said. But there is a belief around the year that former top overall pick Kyler Murray could flourish under coach Kevin O’Connell. Of course, if he does he is a free agent so there’s no guarantee he’s back in 2027, on just a vet-minimal deal. But numerous execs said they could see it being a fit for player and team to go beyond this season, with a franchise tag a possibility.
Baltimore: Lamar Jackson has all the leverage in the world and it’s impossible for him to play on his current deal for 2027 with a near $90M cap hit. He asked for a trade once before, and several GMs told me they believe it could be headed there again. “If he’s not extended by Week 1, I think he’s gone (in 2027),” one longtime personnel exec said. Patrick Mahomes’ new record contract could further complicate another long and messy negotiation in Baltimore.
Philadelphia: One GM told me if college QB Brendan Sorsby would have entered the supplemental draft he thinks the Eagles would have taken him in the second round. Jalen Hurts has no guaranteed money beyond this season, and the Eagles are always looking to upgrade. Even a past Super Bowl MVP might not be enough unless Hurts steps up his game.
“They are ready to move off Hurts if they have to,” the GM said.
Tampa Bay: Baker Mayfield is talking tough about his contract negotiations. And he would likely be the top guy in free agency in 2027 if he plays it out and has a bounce back year. We’re also not sure he doesn’t take what’s on the table by Week 1, with the Bucs willing to keep him in the $30-$35M range as we hear it.
Evaluating A Young Starter
Houston: We doubt they are in any rush to extend QB CJ Stroud (“He’s playing out this year and maybe the fifth-year option (in 2027) for me,” the personnel exec said, after Stroud’s play declined the past two years after a shocking rookie year). GM Nick Caserio was a part of the New England dynasty watching Tom Brady up close. Some of his peers believe Stroud could be a trade candidate after this season, if the Texans think they can do better.
Carolina: Bryce Young has made strides, but won’t likely ever live up to the first-overall billing. If he does a cheap enough extension, and continues a gradual ascent, it’s possible he sticks. But the expectation is no new deal for him this summer.
New Orleans: Tyler Shough exceeded all expectations getting to play regularly in the second half of his rookie season. But he’s an older player, and a sophomore slump could lead the team to finally invest serious draft capital in a potential long-term solution.
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