2025 NFL QB market: Top free agents, best team fits, projected contracts for Aaron Rodgers, other key veterans

The 2025 NFL offseason is underway. Pending free agents can begin negotiating with other teams through their agents beginning March 10, and signings and trades can become official starting March 12, but already all 32 teams are permitted to apply franchise and transition tags.

Unsurprisingly, quarterback is the position bound to get the most attention in the coming weeks. But there’s good reason for that: This year’s market figures to include close to a half-dozen veteran starters, including a recent Comeback Player of the Year candidate.

Here, we’ve identified the best signal-callers set to be available, plus potential team fits and projected contracts and landing spots.

Note: Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins technically remain under contract with their current teams, but both are widely expected to be released ahead of free agency.

Quarterback’s listed ages are as of Sept. 4, the start of the 2025 NFL season.

5. Kirk Cousins

Age: 37 | Season: 9th | Current Team: Atlanta Falcons

Benched for Michael Penix Jr. late in 2024, Cousins was meant to be the missing piece for a playoff contender in Atlanta, but he proved unusually streaky coming off a torn Achilles. Another year removed from the injury might help him rediscover his touch, but it’s safe to wonder how much juice he has left in his arm. More steady than spectacular during a six-year run with the Minnesota Vikings, he’s at least likely to come at a discount, given the Falcons will be absorbing a hefty price if/when they release him.

• Projected AAV: $1 million-$1.5 million
• Best fits: Browns, Colts, Jets
• Prediction: Signs one-year, $1.5 million deal with Cleveland Browns

4. Russell Wilson

Age: 36 | Season: 14th | Current Team: Pittsburgh Steelers

His days of dominating the highlight reel as the dual-threat star of the Seattle Seahawks are long gone, but Wilson at least flashed some of his trademark deep-ball touch midway through 2024. By the end, of course, the sluggishness that marked his ill-fated Denver Broncos pitstop had reared its head again. He’s clearly still a functional play-action passer, but without the elusiveness of his youth, it’s hard to see anyone betting on him as more than a one-year rental, and even then, he’ll likely need to compete for the job.

• Projected AAV: $20 million-$25 million
• Best fits: Giants, Raiders, Steelers
• Prediction: Signs one-year, $20 million deal with New York Giants

3. Aaron Rodgers

Age: 41 | Season: 21st | Current Team: New York Jets

The former Green Bay Packers star had a disastrous two-year stint in New Jersey, where his age finally showed as he struggled to elude steady pressure and/or operate a disciplined offensive attack. But his arm remains intact, as evidenced by some late-year darts in 2024. The challenge for the cerebral Rodgers, provided he doesn’t pivot last minute to retirement, will be finding a team both a.) ready to contend, b.) willing to push all the chips on 2025, and c.) absorb the inevitable headlines of his arrival.

• Projected AAV: $25 million-$30 million
• Best fits: Raiders, Steelers, Titans, Vikings
• Prediction: Signs one-year, $25 million deal with Tennessee Titans

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2. Justin Fields

Age: 26 | Season: 5th | Current Team: Pittsburgh Steelers

Entering Year 5, the former first-round draft pick remains something of an enigma under center. With the Chicago Bears, he was dynamic but volatile, turning the ball over as often as he broke off a home run scramble. With the Steelers, he was far more composed, albeit conservative through the air. As such, he registers more as a splashy Plan B than a reliable full-timer. But at just 26, with unteachable speed and arm talent, he arguably offers some of the best raw physical tools of the entire free agent class.

• Projected AAV: $10 million-$15 million
• Best fits: Browns, Jets, Raiders, Steelers
• Prediction: Signs one-year, $15 million deal with Pittsburgh Steelers

1. Sam Darnold

Age: 28 | Season: 8th | Current Team: Minnesota Vikings

The former No. 3 overall pick has certainly restored his image since a tumultuous five-year start with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, parlaying a year of tutelage with the San Francisco 49ers into a full-blown breakout with the Vikings. His poised and aggressive 35-touchdown showcase under Kevin O’Connell ultimately ended with a whimper, however, as he folded under pressure in Minnesota’s last — and most important — two games. The Vikings like Darnold and his live arm, but they like their 2024 first-round investment, J.J. McCarthy, just as much. And the bargain-bin route worked out just fine for them after they let Kirk Cousins walk. Darnold, meanwhile, might prefer to cash in for a top gig while he can.

• Projected AAV: $35 million-$40 million
• Best fits: Giants, Jets, Raiders, Vikings
• Prediction: Signs three-year, $114 million deal with Las Vegas Raiders

Backup candidates