The 2025 NFL season has officially come to an end, but the National Football League isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Between free agency, the NFL draft and all of the offseason trade speculation, we’ll see plenty of big moves and decision made in the next few months.
Let’s dive right into our early bold NFL offseason predictions series, starting with how we think the 2026 NFL QB carousel could shake out for both trades and free agency. Of note, we’re skipping over the foregone conclusions–Fernando Mendoza drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders and Daniel Jones re-signs with the Indianapolis Colts–because those are obvious.
Tua Tagovailoa Traded to New York Jets
In a vacuum, it certainly makes sense for a team not to trade its starting quarterback to a division foe. However, there’s a new regime in charge of the Miami Dolphins, and Tua Tagovailoa isn’t exactly the caliber of quarterback you fear a team in a multi-year rebuild has. What matters here is that the New York Jets are one of the select few quarterback-needy teams that actually have the cap space to take on Tagovailoa’s deal. Miami will need to cover a portion of the deal and attach draft-pick compensation—perhaps swapping a third-round pick for a Jets’ Day 3 pick—but it gets Tagovailoa out of Miami. Meanwhile, New York gets a bridge starter, improves its draft capital, and can move on from Tagovailoa next offseason.
Related: Dolphins Could Reportedly Make Surprise Decision with Tua Tagovailoa
Aaron Rodgers Returns as Pittsburgh Steelers QB
This feels inevitable at this point. Aaron Rodgers said last June that he was ‘pretty sure‘ the 2025 NFL season would be his last. However, he genuinely seemed to enjoy his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers and he certainly performed better (10-7 record and 94.8 QB rating) than he did during his Jets’ tenure. The 42-year-old quarterback is clearly well-liked in the Steelers locker room and it would seem fitting for him to end his legendary career with the head coach who he started it with. Is a Rodgers-Mike McCarthy duo the best thing for the Steelers long-term? No, but everyone involved seems fine with it being the outcome in 2026.
Related: Why the Pittsburgh Steelers Made a Mistake Hiring Mike McCarthy
Kyler Murray Traded to Atlanta Falcons
Many have pointed to the Minnesota Vikings as a potential landing spot for Kyler Murray. Given he has trade value, meaning he won’t be cut, we can’t fathom how a team that’s currently $40.6 million over the NFL salary cap in 2026 could bring in a quarterback with a $52.6 million cap hit. The Atlanta Falcons are a more realistic fit, since they have more than $26 million in cap room. With Michael Penix recovering from the first ACL surgery of his professional career and Kirk Cousins set to be released, Atlanta needs a viable starter. Murray would be walking into an excellent situation and the beauty of the Falcons offense is that Bijan Robinson can carry it. Plus, Murray will have a solid offensive line with a system that fits his skills.
Malik Willis Takes Over as Miami Dolphins QB
One thing that’s worth remembering with the connection between Malik Willis and the Dolphins is that this is about more than just last season. Miami’s general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan was the Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel from 2022 to 2025—he was in that role when the team acquired Willis in 2024 and he saw his improvements over two years. Miami is in a situation financially where it can’t afford to bring in a high-cost quarterback, and there isn’t a prospect worth a first-round pick in its range. What the Dolphins can offer Willis is a clear path to a starting job in an offense that boasts an elite running back in De’Von Achane. We’d expect a two-year deal in the neighborhood of $20 million to $26 million per year, structured so Miami could get out of it with only a moderate dead cap hit in 2027 if Willis doesn’t work out.
Read More: Grading NFL Coaching Hires 2026
Kirk Cousins Returns to Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are going to catch a bit of a break this offseason. While their cap situation takes them out of the mix for someone like Kyler Murray, the pending release of Kirk Cousins by the Falcons solves everything. Cousins will still be getting paid by Atlanta, and with more than $322 million in career earnings, he really doesn’t need one final payday. Things with the organization might not have ended well, but the Vikings moved on from the general manager who showed Cousins the door. Now, the veteran quarterback can reunite with Kevin O’Connell in an offensive system he already has a mastery of with receivers he has great rapport with. The Vikings offer Cousins the best possible situation of teams in the NFL QB carousel, too. Minnesota will call it a competition with J.J. McCarthy, but everyone knows Cousins will come out on top.
Arizona Cardinals Trade for Will Levis
Once Kyler Murray is out of town, Arizona will probably want to find a young quarterback whom it can develop behind Jacoby Brissett and potentially throw out there for a multi-game trial run in 2026. We’ve got our eye on Will Levis. The success Malik Willis had away from the Tennessee Titans and the struggles Cam Ward experienced with Brian Callahan are signs to teams that Levis is a buy-low candidate. The former second-round pick with outstanding physical tools probably won’t cost anything more than a Day 3 pick to acquire.
For first-year head coach Mike LaFleur, he can see if he can fix some of Levis’ issues. If all goes well and the third-year quarterback gets to see the field, he’ll be in an offense with Trey McBride, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson to support him. That’s a great chance to prove yourself on a team that’s also not under any pressure to win right away.
