Notable NFL QBs who were acquired late in the offseason

Arriving in Inexperienced Bay properly earlier than Bart Starr, Rote earned Professional Bowl acclaim sooner or later Corridor of Famer’s 1956 rookie 12 months. However the pre-Vince Lombardi Packers despatched Rote to the Lions on the eve of their 1957 coaching camp. Bobby Layne had beforehand handled harm bother, and Rote moved from Packer starter to Lion insurance coverage. However Layne’s damaged ankle in Week 11 moved Rote into the Lions’ lineup. Detroit’s insurance coverage proved very important. Rote led the Lions to a comeback win over the 49ers to win the NFL’s Western Convention and threw 4 TD passes in Detroit’s 59-14 rout of Cleveland to win the title. Rote turned the Lions’ full-time QB in 1958.

The Steelers used late transactions to fill their QB1 submit in back-to-back years. After buying former No. 2 general decide Earl Morrall from the 49ers in September 1957, they used him as a starter that 12 months. Regardless of Pittsburgh giving up two first-round picks for Morrall and going 6-5 in his begins, the one-and-done Steeler was included in an October 1958 deal for Layne. The shocked icon didn’t deal with information of his Detroit departure properly, allegedly cursing the Lions (good work if that’s the case). However Layne completed his profession with 5 Steelers seasons — two of them producing Professional Bowl nods. Rote was out of Detroit by 1960.

In mid-August 1961, the Giants traded second-year guard Lou Cordileone for a future Corridor of Famer. The 49ers closed the Tittle e-book after 10 seasons, turning to John Brodie. Whereas Giants coach Allie Sherman described the mid-preseason transfer as “insurance coverage” on the time and nonetheless began 40-year-old Charlie Conerly to open the ’61 season, Tittle took over quickly after. The reborn QB piloted the Giants to a few straight NFL title video games and loved the signature stretch of his profession in New York, throwing 69 TD passes between the 1962 and ’63 seasons. The latter beat out a monster Jim Brown season for MVP acclaim. 

A Cleveland-area native, Dawson didn’t take off with the Browns, who lower the twine on Milt Plum’s backup — after Dawson requested a departure — in June 1962. The Texans scooped up the previous Steelers draftee-turned-Bobby Layne understudy a month later. Dawson’s July arrival and two profession begins (in 5 seasons) to that time didn’t maintain him again. The Purdue alum took the reins for the Texans to start out the 1962 season and led them to an AFL championship. The Texans morphed into the Chiefs weeks later. Dawson stayed the franchise’s starter for the subsequent 14 seasons; he stays the franchise’s chief in passing yards and TD tosses.

Davidson began 24 video games for the Dallas Texans within the AFL’s first two seasons, however after Dawson’s arrival, Hank Stram shipped his earlier QB1 to the Raiders. The longer term Chiefs dealt Davidson to their future rivals after Week 1 of the 1962 AFL season and acquired fairly the dear asset — a draft pick that became No. 1 overall. On their approach out of Dallas, the Texans took Buck Buchanan — a Corridor of Fame-bound defensive sort out. The Raiders limped by the worst season in workforce historical past, going 1-13. Whereas this commerce gave the Chiefs a D-line star, Davidson stayed with the Raiders for six extra years.

Spending time backing up, previous or succeeding Corridor of Famers all through his profession, Morrall delivered a reputation-restoring season after a late-summer 1968 transaction. The fourth and remaining commerce of Morrall’s profession got here after Johnny Unitas suffered a preseason muscle tear, and the Colts acquired him from the Giants. Being changed by Fran Tarkenton in New York, Morrall outperformed the longer term Corridor of Famer and all different QBs in ’68, profitable MVP acclaim and steering a stacked Baltimore workforce to a 13-1 document and Tremendous Bowl III. That recreation didn’t go properly, however on the entire, the Colts’ commerce helped salvage a robust roster.

Tremendous-prospect Greg Cook dinner’s shoulder harm, which keyed an early profession conclusion and one of many NFL’s signature what-ifs, prompted the Bengals to make a transfer for Carter. In July 1970, Cincinnati claimed Carter off waivers from Buffalo and later despatched a sixth-round decide as compensation. Carter turned a serious footnote in league historical past, with Paul Brown and then-Bengals assistant Invoice Walsh crafting a short-passing offense across the restricted QB expertise. Carter made 11 begins for the 1970 Bengals, who rallied from 1-5 to the AFC Central title. Although he solely spent three years in Cincy, Carter is a key piece of West Coast Offense lore.

The 1974 commerce deadline is underrated. Future Corridor of Fame D-lineman Curley Culp changed teams in a deal involving future Raider D-line mainstay John Matuszak. However two trades for beginning QBs occurred that day (Oct. 22). The Packers despatched the Rams a monster commerce bundle (two firsts, two seconds, a 3rd) for Hadl, a 1973 All-Professional however an ageing arm by that time. The Giants despatched the Cowboys first- and second-rounders for Morton, whom Roger Staubach had usurped. The primary of these picks turned Corridor of Fame D-tackle Randy White. Morton performed that week for the Giants; Hadl debuted every week later. Each offers bombed; the QBs had been elsewhere by 1976. However this made for an explosive information day.

After making a QB1-for-QB1 swap in 1980 — Stabler for Dan Pastorini — the Raiders and Oilers went in reverse instructions. The Oilers made the 1980 playoffs with Stabler, however he underwhelmed as a Houston starter. After the Oilers lower the longer term Corridor of Famer in 1982, the Saints signed him in late August. Signed to exchange injured backup Dave Wilson behind Archie Manning, Stabler — then 36 and taking part in beneath ex-Oilers HC Bum Phillips once more — leapfrogged Manning and began eight of the Saints’ 9 1982 video games. The Saints traded Manning to the Oilers in September 1982; Stabler began for many of 1983 in New Orleans.

Doug Williams’ messy contract dispute, which got here shortly after his spouse died from a mind tumor, led the Buccaneers starter to the USFL’s Oklahoma Outlaws in 1983. The Bucs had acquired some Williams insurance coverage in June of that 12 months, buying and selling a first-round decide for ex-Bengals top-three draft selection Thompson. “The Throwin’ Samoan” began for many of the ’83 season, struggling because the Bucs plunged right into a prolonged interval of distress. However a 1984 commerce for Steve DeBerg demoted Thompson in 1984. That 1984 decide the Bucs traded for Thompson turned No. 1 general (Irving Fryar). The Bucs lower Thompson in September 1985. 

A Louisiana native, Hebert signed with the Saints in August 1985 — after he had grow to be one of many USFL’s high gamers. The Saints gave him a profitable (for the period) contract price practically $900,000 per 12 months. Hebert had led the Michigan Panthers to the USFL’s first title and, after the Panthers merged with the Oakland Invaders in 1985, steered his new workforce to a runner-up end that summer time. He went proper into an NFL coaching camp. Hebert closed the ’85 season as New Orleans’ starter and took over for good in 1986 when Jim Mora — who coached towards Hebert all through the USFL’s run — turned the Saints’ head coach. Hebert led the Saints to a few playoff berths.

The 1986 draft noticed the Nos. 1 and three picks by no means play a down for the groups that selected them. Everett’s refusal to signal with the Oilers was extra conventional than Bo Jackson’s Buccaneers spurning, however Houston drafted Everett regardless of Warren Moon being on a then-record five-year, $5.5 million deal. After 1985 Rams starter Dieter Brock suffered a preseason knee harm, Everett went to Los Angeles for a monster trade package. This deal didn’t occur till late September. However Everett settled in because the Rams’ starter late in 1986 and stored the job till 1993. Everett stays the second-longest-tenured QB1 (behind Roman Gabriel) in Rams historical past. 

A month after buying Everett, the Rams traded Flutie’s rights to the Bears for fourth- and sixth-round picks. Chicago designed the October 1986 deal to be for the longer term; the workforce had Tremendous Bowl starter Jim McMahon. However McMahon’s harm troubles quickly intensified. Quickly after the Flutie commerce, McMahon tore a rotator cuff. In his first recreation again from that harm, he was on the mistaken finish of one of many NFL’s defining soiled hits. The Charles Martin body-slam ended McMahon’s season, gutting a Super Bowl favorite. After utilizing different QBs for a number of weeks, Mike Ditka began Flutie in Chicago’s playoff recreation. The USFL star’s 11-for-31 day ended a 14-2 workforce’s season; Flutie by no means threw one other cross as a Bear.

Amid an Hebert holdout that lasted all through the 1990 season, the Saints opted to half with main belongings to exchange him. In late September 1990, the Saints traded first-, second- and third-round picks for Cowboys backup Steve Walsh. A nationwide champion QB at Miami, Walsh rejoined Jimmy Johnson as a 1989 first-round supplemental draftee. However Troy Aikman stayed on observe to grow to be Dallas’ franchise QB. Walsh took the Saints’ reins in Week 6 and stored them all through, serving to the defense-powered workforce to an 8-8 season and a wild-card berth. Hebert ended his holdout in 1991, and Walsh was principally a Saints backup by 1993.

The Cowboys acquired a brand new Aikman again up in late August 1991, acquiring Beuerlein from the Raiders, who had banished him from their QB equation. A 1987 Raiders fourth-rounder, Beuerlein turned a main starter in 1989. Beuerlein’s choice to carry out throughout a part of the next summer time rankled Al Davis, who noticed to it that Beuerlein didn’t costume in 1990. He turned wanted in Dallas. A November knee harm sidelined Aikman for the season, and Beuerlein quarterbacked the Cowboys to 4 straight wins to shut the common season. The Cowboys then gained a wild-card recreation in Chicago, their Nineties dynasty’s first playoff victory.

Dissatisfied being Mark Rypien’s Washington backup, Humphries requested a commerce in the course of the workforce’s 1992 coaching camp. Finally, the fifth-year QB acquired his want by way of an August transfer to the Chargers, who had spun their wheels ever since Dan Fouts’ 1988 retirement. Bolts GM Bobby Beathard drafted Humphries when he was Washington’s GM and didn’t wait lengthy to plug him into his new workforce’s beginning lineup. Humphries overtook veteran Bob Gagliano after one recreation and, after shedding his first three begins, steered the Chargers to an 11-5 season. These Bolts stay the one workforce to dig out of an 0-4 begin to the playoffs, the place they gained a wild-card shutout over the Chiefs.

After Invoice Belichick’s controversial Kosar lower in-season, the ex-Browns QB landed together with his former faculty coach. Jimmy Johnson, who had already rostered ex-Hurricane Steve Walsh, signed Kosar in November 1993. This transfer got here two days after Aikman sustained a hamstring harm. On 4 days’ discover, Kosar changed third-stringer Jason Garrett and led the Cowboys to a few scoring drives in a win over the Cardinals. Given a $1 million deal to again up Aikman, Kosar was once more wanted within the NFC title recreation, when a concussion compelled the starter to overlook all the second half. Kosar stored the Dallas sportscar on the street en path to Tremendous Bowl XXVIII.

Halfway by their Boomer Esiason years, the Jets waived Blake — a 1992 sixth-round decide. After Blake didn’t make the Jets’ 1994 workforce, the Bengals claimed him simply earlier than the season. This transaction led to Blake extending his profession to 14 seasons. Starting the season as Cincinnati’s third-stringer, behind former top-10 decide David Klingler and Donald Hollas, Blake took over after each suffered accidents in the identical recreation. Bumped as much as begin for an 0-7 workforce, Blake led the Bengals to back-to-back wins in his first month as a starter. His high-arching deep ball turned a Cincinnati fixture for the remainder of the ’90s.

Again when groups wanted to attend till June to economize on post-June 1 cuts, the Ravens took that route with their five-year beginning quarterback (Testaverde began for Browns 1.0 after which with the Ravens). Weeks later, the Jets pounced, dumping starter Neil O’Donnell after Testaverde signed a two-year, $8.7 million deal. Testaverde’s arrival went a good distance towards Invoice Parcells crafting a 3rd NFL rebuild. Two years after a 1-15 season, the Jets journeyed to the AFC championship recreation. Vinny, at 35, went 12-1 as a starter and completed his first 12 months with a 29-7 TD-INT ratio. He caught round by 2003. 

Six years later, the Giants signed a future Corridor of Famer to groom a QB who will possible find yourself there. The Rams made Warner a post-June 1 lower, resulting in a deal to be Eli Manning’s bridge. That is essentially the most neglected chapter in Warner’s profession, however you will need to keep in mind the Rams had benched the immediately struggling two-time MVP for Marc Bulger in 2003. Warner turned the Giants’ Week 1 starter and led them to a 5-2 begin. Tom Coughlin decided, regardless of the workforce’s 5-4 document, that Manning was prepared. That ended up sacrificing the 2004 season, with the Giants shedding Manning’s first six begins. Warner wound up in Arizona in ’05.

This was a higher-profile state of affairs than Baker Mayfield’s, at the least when it comes to quarterback stature, although the 2006 NFL information cycle just isn’t what right now’s is. The Titans, after drafting Vince Younger, barred McNair from their offseason exercises. McNair needed to win a grievance to re-enter the workforce’s facility. Tennessee moved on from its solely Tremendous Bowl QB after 10 seasons, sending McNair to Baltimore for a fourth-round decide in June. The commerce helped the Titans for cap functions, and the deal — for one 12 months, at the least — solved a Ravens QB dilemma. McNair had the Ravens at 13-3 in 2006. A 2007 harm ended up wrapping his profession.

Most likely essentially the most well-known late-arrival QB state of affairs concerned Favre’s first unretirement. After Favre re-emerged in July 2008 by indicating he wished to return again for an 18th season, a weeks-long cleaning soap opera overshadowed the NFL’s 31 non-Packers groups and commenced Aaron Rodgers’ QB1 profession on shakier-than-expected terrain. The Brett-or-Aaron debate ended with the Packers sending Favre to the Jets in August for what turned a third-round decide. Favre’s iron-man streak included 16 Jets begins, however a biceps harm led to the Jets falling from 8-3 to 9-7. Retirement No. 2 commenced, utterly ending Favre’s NFL odyssey. …

The Packers mentioned a cope with the Buccaneers as properly, however the Favre-Jon Gruden pairing not coming to cross meant Pennington was out of a job. The Jets, who had benched their six-year starter for 2006 second-rounder Kellen Clemens in 2007, lower Pennington a day after they acquired Favre. On August 11, the Dolphins signed the veteran starter to a two-year, $11.5 million deal. This turned out to be the final dance for Pennington. He made it memorable by main a Dolphins nucleus that went 1-15 in 2007 to the AFC East title. A second Comeback Participant of the Yr award got here Pennington’s approach in ’08, however accidents nixed an encore.

Upon buying and selling Favre to the Jets, the Packers included a poison-pill provision that will ship three Jets first-rounders to the Packers in the event that they traded Favre to the Vikings. This led to the Jets relinquishing Favre’s rights after he re-retired. The Vikes, who had been carefully linked to Favre in ’08, waited a 12 months and acquired a significantly better model of the all-time nice. After Favre informed the Jets he was finished in February, his August Minnesota signing keyed the perfect Vikings season this century — a 13-3 marketing campaign that ended on the Tremendous Bowl XLIV precipice. Favre threw 33 TD passes and simply seven INTs, although a expensive playoff decide nonetheless lingers. 

Pissed off with the Bengals’ offseason minimalism, Palmer took a daring step and staged a quasi-retirement to provoke a divorce. A seven-year Cincinnati starter, Palmer ended up sitting out practically half the 2011 season. However Raiders starter Jason Campbell’s harm pulled Palmer out of retirement. Oakland despatched first- and second-round picks to Cincinnati for Palmer on Oct. 18. The Raiders threw the 31-year-old QB into the hearth 5 days later. After the workforce’s bye week, Palmer took over as Oakland’s full-time starter. His 1 1/2-season Raider tenure proved uneventful. The Bengals drafted Dre Kirkpatrick and Gio Bernard with the Palmer picks.

A part of a 2015 commerce that despatched Nick Foles to the Rams, Bradford turned an Eagles one-and-done after Teddy Bridgewater’s career-threatening harm. The 2-year Vikings starter suffered a dislocated knee and torn ACL throughout coaching camp, and the Rick Spielman-Mike Zimmer regime traded first- and fourth-round picks for Bradford in early September. Bradford turned basically a one-and-done Vikings starter, too, with accidents halting him in 2017. Whereas the Vikes went 8-8 in 2016, Bradford set a then-single-season completion proportion document (71.6). The deal additionally paved the way in which for Carson Wentz to start out from the soar in Philly.

After 11 seasons, eight with the Bears, Cutler retired in Could 2017. Ryan Tannehill’s ACL tear pulled the rocket-armed passer away from a FOX deal and into the saddle in Miami. This disadvantaged viewers of seeing how the oft-apathetic Cutler would fare calling video games. It led to a forgettable NFL finale. Cutler, then 34, signed a one-year, $10 million deal to rejoin ex-Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase with the Dolphins. Whereas Cutler lasted 14 video games, Miami went 6-10. Cutler re-retired after the season, and though he made some actuality TV appearances, he has not ventured into the sales space as initially deliberate.

If/when Brissett begins Browns video games, he’ll possible obtain much more discover of these plans than he did forward of both of his Colts QB1 years. Andrew Luck’s nagging shoulder harm overshadowed the whole lot Colts in 2017; the September commerce Indianapolis made for New England’s former third-stringer turned out to be important. Traded straight up for first-round wideout Phillip Dorsett, Brissett changed Scott Tolzien in Week 1 and made the ultimate 15 begins for that Colts squad. After Luck returned in 2018, his August 2019 retirement moved a greater Brissett model again into the lineup. Deshaun Watson’s backup/fill-in has 37 profession begins.

Whereas the 49ers have lengthy been prepared to chop this twine, Garoppolo bailed out a Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch regime that handed on Watson and Patrick Mahomes in 2017 to take defensive lineman Solomon Thomas. San Francisco went into the 2017 season absent a viable QB1 and purchased Garoppolo — whom the Patriots didn’t make accessible till the 2017 deadline — for a second-round decide. The 49ers nonetheless began C.J. Beathard for 3 video games earlier than figuring out their new QB was prepared. The 49ers went 5-0 beneath Garoppolo and 1-10 with their different passers that 12 months. That sample continued for the subsequent 4 seasons.

A minimal market shaped for Newton in 2020, after the previous MVP had missed nearly all of 2019 with a foot harm. The Patriots, who gave the football-viewing public the impression for weeks that Jarrett Stidham was a legit starter choice, went with Newton from the soar. Coming when the Pats noticed a number of cogs opt-out as a result of COVID-19 issues, the Pats’ 2020 slate featured a severely diminished Newton. Whereas his speeding chops remained, the ex-Panther famous person threw eight TD passes in 15 begins. The Pats profitable seven video games with Newton didn’t forestall them from a viable first-round QB (and Cam’s eventual substitute) in 2021, nevertheless.