Predicting the Landing Spots for the Top QBs Potentially on the Move

With the 2022 NFL season officially coming to a close, it is now time for teams to prepare for the 2023 offseason. Many teams will be looking to add a proven signal caller under center, and some will be content with who they got. There are a handful of quarterbacks who could be on the move this offseason, and a huge variety of teams will be in the mix for these quarterbacks. Let's take a look at these QBs and predict where they will land.

Aaron Rodgers - New York Jets

It is now a yearly tradition for the four time MVP winner to have his future with the Packers in question during the offseason. However, this time around it seems almost certain that Rodgers will not be back with the Pack in 2023. Jordan Love has sat on the bench for three straight years now, and the Packers need to move forward with him now or that first round pick will be even more wasted than it already seems. Rodgers again does not seem interested in playing football and continues to float rumors of retirement, however this is more of a boy who cried wolf situation now as he has done this too many times before. I believe that the Packers will trade the 39 year old quarterback and try to reload and move forward with Love. Rodgers has still proven to be talented, winning the MVP in two of the past three seasons, so the Packers should still get a hefty return for the veteran quarterback. Now what team should take a chance on Rodgers? Ideally one with a talented roster ready for a veteran quarterback to jump in and lead them to a quick Super Bowl berth before his retirement. A team that fits this description is the New York Jets. The Jets are not satisfied with the young Zach Wilson, and have been actively rumored to be involved with many quarterbacks including Lamar Jackson, Derek Carr, and of course Aaron Rodgers. The legendary Joe Namath even came out and said he would allow Rodgers to wear his retired number 12 jersey if he were to play for the Jets. The Jets have not had a franchise quarterback since Namath many many years ago, and they are desperate for one. Although Rodgers won’t be around long, he would serve as a quick solution for the Jets to compete for a Super Bowl championship within the next two years or so. This would buy them time to look for a long term solution under center while they stay competitive. Overall, Rodgers has nothing to lose at this point and might as well try to get a ring before he retires, and the Jets haven’t done anything memorable in almost a decade, so why not take the risk of trading for the veteran QB?

Derek Carr - New Orleans Saints

After spending nine long seasons with the Raiders, the Fresno State product finds himself in free agency for the first time in his career. After a promising 2021 season that ended with an unfortunate wild card loss to the eventual Super Bowl runner ups, the Las Vegas Raiders were poised for a second consecutive winning season in 2022. However, the opposite of this happened. The Raiders won just six games in 2022 and found themselves preferring a rebuild rather than continuing to try and make things work with Derek Carr, who once had an ultra promising future after his MVP-worthy performance during the 2016 season. The Raiders decided to release Carr shortly after the Super Bowl and the end of the 2023 season. Carr now finds himself, a veteran quarterback with playoff experience, on an open market with many suitors. Although he doesn’t provide the crazy playmaking ability of quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, he has proven himself as a top quarterback that can win in this league and many teams are interested. Two of those teams that make the most sense for Carr are the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints. And since I already predict Rodgers to end up with the Jets, that leaves the Saints as the best option for Carr. The Saints already have a high end defense and a proven offensive line, something that Carr did not have throughout most of his tenure with the Raiders. They also have a couple of explosive offensive weapons for Carr, like Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave. Although they finished third in the division at 7-10 this previous season, the Saints have a ready-to-win roster and just need a competent QB to help bring them to the postseason. The poor NFC South was won with just an 8-9 record this past year, so a 7 win Saints team with a proven quarterback should jump to about 9 or 10 wins, possibly more. This would get them in the playoffs and give them a chance to compete with the heavyweights of the NFC. And although Carr is a proven quarterback in this league, his cost should not be too high after a down 2022 campaign, meaning the cap-stricken Saints should be able to afford him. All in all, this move makes just too much sense for both sides. Carr would get the consistency of a competent roster, something that he has always been chasing to get from the Raiders, and the Saints would get a proven quarterback to help lift them above their NFC South rivals.

Lamar Jackson - Baltimore Ravens

I already wrote a full article about this so I’m Gonna keep this one short. I predict for the Ravens to franchise tag Lamar to keep him in Baltimore and push back contract talks another year. However, I would not be surprised if Lamar decided to hold out a while and possibly not sign his franchise tag. This would make for months of speculation and yet another case of a top quarterback sitting out until he gets his desired contract. Regardless, I find it hard to imagine Lamar wearing another uniform anytime soon.

Geno Smith - Seattle Seahawks

(Image via: Joe Nicholson, USA-Today Sports)

Another short one here, after a successful 2022 campaign, no reason for the Seahawks to change anything. Geno Smith rose from the ashes like a phoenix and revived his career in 2022. He won the Comeback Player of the Year award and made the Pro Bowl. He led the Seahawks to a 9-8 record along with a playoff berth. Although they lost in the first round, they overperformed in their first season in the post-Russell Wilson era. They might as well continue to let this Geno-train roll and see where it goes. If Geno Smith can keep this up, the Seahawks will be able to turn themselves into a heavyweight in the NFC. They can use all that draft capital from the Wilson trade to continue to build up their roster, and they don’t even need to find a new franchise quarterback. Huge win for Seattle if Smith can keep this up, so they might as well pay the man and see where this goes.

Jimmy Garoppolo - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After a season of Trey Lance sitting on the bench, many expected Jimmy Garoppolo to spend the entire 2022 season as a mentor for the young QB allowing Lance to step up and take the helm in his second season. However, this did not go as planned. Lance injured his ankle in week two and was out for the rest of the season. This meant it was again time for Garoppolo to step in and lead the Niners. This also unfortunately lasted only about ten weeks, as Garoppolo suffered a season ending injury during the 49ers week 13 game against the Miami Dolphins. The Niners did not suffer however, as undrafted rookie Brock Purdy exploded onto the scene, leading the Niners all the way to the NFC Championship game. With a hopefully healthy Lance, and a cheap proven backup in Purdy, the Niners have no need to bring back Garoppolo in 2023. With this, Garoppolo will be free to search free agency to find the best fit for him. As a proven veteran quarterback with Super Bowl experience, Jimmy G will have many suitors in free agency. Some may be looking for a capable backup who can mentor their young QB, while others will simply be looking for a competitive starter to get their already strong roster into the playoffs. Multiple teams come to mind here, but one that makes perfect sense is the Tampa Bay Bucs. After Tom Brady’s recent retirement, the Buccaneers find themselves with no plan at the quarterback position. They are left with only the young Kyle Trask and the veteran journeyman Blaine Gabbert, both of whom are not ideal starting quarterbacks. Despite only winning 8 games in 2022, they still have a competitive roster that can easily compete for yet another NFC South title, they just need a competent QB to help lead this roster. Garoppolo can easily come in and be that guy for the Bucs, and they can be just as good if not better than they were in 2022. Hopefully they make some additional moves to improve their roster elsewhere. However, if they were to stay exactly the same but insert Garoppolo at quarterback, they would still compete for the division title in the weak NFC South. The Bucs would not be risking anything by making this move, and Garoppolo would be able to work with a fun group of weapons that includes Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. A low risk-high reward situation for either side here.

Daniel Jones - New York Giants

After a better than expected 2022 campaign that ended in a playoff appearance and victory, Daniel Jones has bought himself another season with the Giants. The clock was running out for Jones to have a breakout year, and he sort of had one this previous season. Although he wasn’t exceptional, he was good enough to take the Giants to the postseason. And that alone has bought him some more time. The Giants now have to honor his performance by keeping him around another season and seeing if he can improve again. They will most likely use the franchise tag on the young QB, and although it will be hefty, it is only for one season. This gives the Giants yet another chance to decide if Jones is who they want under center long term. So next offseason, the Giants can make the big decision of either extending Jones, or let him go and start over at the position again.

All in all, it is fun to speculate, however these guys may end up somewhere completely different than anyone could have predicted, and that’s the fun part of it. Many teams will be interested in these guys, and it’ll be interesting to see where they actually end up. We just have to wait and see what happens.

(Cover image via: Kirby Lee, USA Today Sports)