We are in the dawn of a new age in the NFL… the age of quarterback mobility. We have been on the verge for perhaps a few years now, with Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford leaving their teams and finding immediate championship level success. But with the 2022 offseason in full swing, we are witnessing unprecedented levels of quarterback movement.
The modern NFL has typically had a very robust free agency period, with star receivers, running backs, linemen and defenders finding new teams who believe they are the missing piece to contention. This has applied to all positions except the game’s most important one. Typically, quarterbacks of franchise caliber do not find themselves looking for new cities as their current teams work hard to prevent them leaving.
Sure, there has been franchise quarterbacks who went on to new teams at the tail end of their careers, such as Philip Rivers. But it is certainly not the norm. Nor is it a situation where the new team is going to get multiple years of high-caliber play.
We’re used to seeing NBA superstars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant change teams repeatedly. The quarterback seemed like the last bastion of American sports stars who did not enjoy this level of mobility. Now, the script has flipped.
This offseason alone we have seen Matt Ryan traded to the Colts, Deshaun Watson pack his bags for Cleveland, Carson Wentz move yet again to the NFC East with the Commanders and the cherry on top with Russell Wilson actually leaving the Seahawks for Denver.
With the exception of Carson Wentz returning to the NFC, this rapid quarterback movement has helped create a drastic power imbalance between the NFC and the AFC. Seemingly overnight, the AFC has eclipsed the NFC as the league’s gauntlet conference.
For years, the AFC was under the rule of the dynastic Patriots, Peyton Manning’s Colts/Broncos, and Big Ben’s usually consistent Steelers. Now the AFC quarterbacks include Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Derek Carr, and now Matt Ryan.
Meanwhile, the NFC is top heavy with Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, and Tom Brady. The rest of the conference? A lot of quarterbacks that are either bad or have several questions surrounding them.
Of course, a weaker NFC does bode well for the Seahawks. The Super Bowl might be out of reach due to the aforementioned quarterbacks making a road block, but it’s not hard to argue this team could still be a contender to make the postseason.
