Even amid an NFL season that has been defined on offense by Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry dominating at running back, quarterback is still king. The Commanders, Vikings and Broncos are likely to make the postseason after making offseason upgrades at the league's most important position. Changes at quarterback can turn bad teams around quicker than anybody expects and help mold flawed teams into Super Bowl contenders.
And so, right around this time of year, the quarterback carousel begins to spin. There's turnover already happening in the 32 starting jobs because of injuries and subpar play, of course, but organizations both inside and outside the playoff picture are thinking about their Week 1 starters for 2025. Some changes to come are obvious, but others might depend on what the scouting department sees in next year's rookie class or whether certain veterans make it to the open market.
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Let's take a closer look at the teams that might be giving serious thought to making a change under center for Week 1 of the 2025 season. Most of these teams are out of the playoff picture, unsurprisingly, but some are locks to see their current quarterbacks on the field in January. And while a few are guaranteed to make changes, others still have tape to evaluate on their current guys between now and the end of the campaign.
The latter group might be the more interesting of the two, so I'm going to start with them (in no order). And it seems obvious to begin with a guy who might have made himself a lot of money Sunday. Sam Darnold's future might not be with the Vikings, but if he can string together a few more games like the one we saw against the Falcons, could Minnesota be facing a surprisingly difficult decision about its starter next season?
Jump to a team with QB questions:
Browns | Falcons | Giants
Jets | Panthers | Raiders
Steelers | Titans | Vikings
Teams that might make a QB change
Minnesota Vikings
What happened in Week 14: Sam Darnold went 22-of-28 for 347 yards with five touchdowns in a 42-21 victory over the Falcons.
You could forgive the Vikings for showing off in front of an ex. As Kirk Cousins struggled through another game with no passing touchdowns and multiple interceptions, the guy general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signed as part of his plan to replace the longtime starter was showing off. Facing an Atlanta pass defense that has shown more pass-rush bite in recent weeks, Darnold had what was surely his best game as a pro, averaging more than 12 yards per attempt and throwing for five touchdown passes, both for the first time in his career.
With a 47-yard pass interference call added to the mix, Darnold approached 400 passing yards on the day. Outside of taking four sacks, he was nearly flawless. He averaged 0.25 expected points added (EPA) per dropback Sunday, both a career best, and it was the first game from his Vikings run to make it into his top 10. His performance against the Bears two weeks ago, when he went 22-of-34 for 330 yards with two touchdowns, ranks 13th. The only quarterback with a better QBR over the past three weeks than Darnold is division rival Jordan Love.