NFL teams who changed QBs after a playoff berth (2024)

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In what would be labeled poor roster management today, the Raiders kept Ken Stabler on the bench for five seasons. The future Hall of Famer, a 1968 second-round pick, sat behind Daryle Lamonica. "The Mad Bomber" had collected two AFL MVPs and made the Pro Bowl in 1970 and '72, fitting together an 18-12 TD-INT ratio in the latter season. The Raiders benched Lamonica in the divisional playoff, a game better known for the Immaculate Reception sequence, and turned to Stabler to start the '73 season. Lamonica, 32 at this point, remained on the roster for two more years. His Raiders run cut into Stabler's. In an arc similar to Roger Staubach's, "The Snake" was only the Raiders' QB1 from 1973-79.

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On the subject of Staubach, the Cowboys backtracked on a 1971 decision that produced their first Super Bowl title. Staubach had overtaken Craig Morton during a season that had featured Tom Landry alternating QBs -- from game to game and, for a bit, play to play -- but suffered a separated shoulder during the 1972 preseason. Morton stepped back in, and even after Staubach recovered, he kept the job going into the playoffs. Morton started all 14 Cowboys games in 1972, but after they fell behind in a divisional-round 49ers matchup, Landry reinserted Staubach. After a 15-point second-half comeback, Staubach did not cede the reins again. The Cowboys traded Morton to the Giants in 1974.

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Dan Pastorini was at the controls for the Oiler teams that had revived the franchise, piloting Bum Phillips' club from the wild-card round into back-to-back AFC championship games. The Steelers prevailed in both, and in an effort to shake up the AFC Central hierarchy, Houston swapped starting QBs with Oakland. The Raiders sent Ken Stabler to the Oilers straight up for Pastorini , the 1971 No. 3 pick who had started 107 games with the team. A declining Stabler, at 35, threw a career-high 28 INTs in 1980. The Oilers still made the playoffs but lost a one-sided wild-card game to the Raiders. A Pastorini injury had given way to Jim Plunkett by that point. Stabler lasted two years in Houston.

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Not regarded as a top-tier quarterback, Doug Williams still led the Bucs to three playoff berths from 1979-82. The QB in place when the team made its leap after an infamous start, however, felt slighted due to his low salary. Attached to a deal worth less than some backup QBs at the time, Williams became embroiled in a dispute with the team. Williams sought a $600,000-per-year salary; Bucs ownership refused to move past $400,000. This impasse eventually led Williams to the USFL's Oklahoma Outlaws, who had topped Tampa Bay's offer. The Bucs had already sent the Bengals a first-round pick for former top-three draftee Jack Thompson. After a Thompson-quarterbacked 2-14 1983 season, that pick became No. 1.

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The USFL also intervened for the Steelers, who lost their initial Terry Bradshaw replacement to the upstart league. A Bradshaw elbow injury moved backup Cliff Stoudt into Pittsburgh's lineup, with his play sufficient to produce a 10-6 record and an AFC Central crown. Stoudt did not exactly play well in 1983, ranking 25th in passer rating, but he accepted an offer from the Birmingham Stallions ahead of the USFL's second season. The Steelers turned to David Woodley, a Super Bowl XVII starter whom Dan Marino replaced in Miami, but eventually settled on Mark Malone. The Steelers' first-round pick in 1980, Malone piloted the 1984 team to the AFC championship game.

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The Roger Staubach heir apparent, Danny White, had the Cowboys in three straight NFC championship games. Dallas' 1983 team also earned a wild-card spot, and while White threw for 330 yards, he sprinkled in three INTs in a 24-17 loss to the Rams. Tom Landry pitted White against longtime backup Gary Hogeboom during training camp in 1984, and the younger passer won the job. A Pro Bowler in 1982, White had started all but one Cowboys game since Staubach's retirement. Hogeboom, a 1980 Cowboys fifth-round pick, had the team at 4-1 but began to struggle. White reclaimed the job late in the season, a 9-7 Cowboys campaign, and kept it to start 1985.

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The most celebrated Bears quarterback since Sid Luckman, Jim McMahon was traded to the Chargers in August 1989. The popular but brittle passer missed much of the 1988 season and did not start Chicago's playoff opener, the "Fog Bowl." Mike Ditka kept backup Mike Tomczak in the lineup over a healthy McMahon, and though the starter did return in an NFC championship blowout loss to the 49ers, injuries and McMahon's attitude did him in with the Bears. The team's Super Bowl XX-winning QB was shipped out for a conditional pick, which became a second-rounder. The Bears turned to Tomczak initially, but 1987 first-rounder Jim Harbaugh was in place a year later. McMahon lasted one season in San Diego.

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The Chiefs began a QB domino effect by signing Dave Krieg in mid-March, signaling Steve DeBerg -- who had led the team to back-to-back playoff berths -- would be on the move. Not protected as a free agent -- during the NFL's Plan B free agency era that allowed teams to protect 37 players each year -- DeBerg returned to the Buccaneers in late March. This scuttled a potential Giants-Bucs trade; Tampa Bay was on the radar to acquire Phil Simms, whom Jeff Hostetler had replaced in 1991. Simms stayed in New York, and DeBerg -- a 35-game Bucs starter from 1984-87 -- mostly backed up Vinny Testaverde during his second Tampa stint. The Chiefs returned to the playoffs with Krieg, going 10-6 for a second straight year.

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While not on the level of 1983 peers John Elway, Dan Marino or Jim Kelly, Ken O'Brien was not a bust. He remains the second-longest-tenured QB1 in Jets history, behind only Joe Namath. That tenure ended in 1992, despite the Jets having made the playoffs the year prior. The Jets went 8-8, making the playoffs on a game-winning field goal in Week 17, before losing a wild-card game in Houston. O'Brien led five game-winning drives in 1991 but only threw 10 TD passes in 16 starts. The Jets turned to 1991 second-rounder Browning Nagle, who went 3-10 as the 1992 starter. The team kept O'Brien as a backup, but he finished his career with the Eagles a year later.

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Bobby Hebert was at the helm for the Saints' turnaround under Jim Mora, leading the team to three playoff berths during an eight-season run. The Louisiana native went 12-4 as the Saints' starter in 1992, but the team moved on in '93. GM Jim Finks indicated the team would not offer Hebert another contract. The Saints lost their three Hebert-quarterbacked playoff tilts and went through a messy contract dispute with him in 1990, when the starter sat out the season. New Orleans went with Wade Wilson, who signed a two-year deal worth $4 million that offseason. The former Vikings starter and Falcons backup went 7-7 as the Saints' starter in 1993. Hebert ended up in Atlanta.

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The Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to change starting QBs after consecutive playoff seasons. The team's Steve DeBerg replacement, Dave Krieg, started 16 games in 1992. A defense-powered Chiefs team made the playoffs but endured a 24-0 wild-card loss to the Chargers. The team kept the longtime Seahawks starter as a backup, but the Joe Montana trade drama ended with the Chiefs sending a first-round pick to the 49ers for the benched legend. Steve Young's backup demanded a trade and preferred the Chiefs over the Cardinals, the other serious suitor. Krieg made five starts for the injury-prone Montana in 1993 before joining the Lions a year later. Montana lasted two years in Kansas City.

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The Lions brought a complicated QB situation in the early 1990s. Three QBs prominently factored into Wayne Fontes' offense. Rodney Peete made the most starts from 1990-93, despite the organization using a top-10 pick on Heisman winner Andre Ware. But Erik Kramer made the playoff starts in this span, again taking over as Detroit's starter midway through the '93 season. After a last-minute loss to the Packers, the Lions decided to spend on a hopeful upgrade. Scott Mitchell, Dan Marino's injury replacement in 1993, signed a three-year, $11 million deal. Kramer cashed in, too, via a three-year, $8.1M accord from the Bears. Both QBs lasted five seasons with these rival teams.

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The Oilers had endured three consecutive playoff collapses by 1994, and after a tumultuous '93 season, ownership began to construct a teardown that eventually ended with the team relocating. Moon became the biggest domino. The Oilers aimed to redo his contract, as his backup (Cody Carlson) was set to earn nearly as much as he was ($3 million to $3.25 million) in '94. Moon declined, and the Oilers worked out a trade. They sent their 10-year starter to the Vikings for third- and fourth-round picks. Although the future Hall of Famer was 37 at this point, he famously said he would outlast Carlson as a pro. Moon was right; Carlson did not play following the 1994 season.

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After benching Rich Gannon for Sean Salisbury during the 1992 season, the Vikings turned to former rival Jim McMahon in 1993. Coming off a three-year stretch as Randall Cunningham's Eagles backup, McMahon signed a two-year, incentive-laden deal to effectively become a Vikings stopgap. McMahon's age-34 season featured the Vikings going 8-4 in his starts; the 12 starts marked McMahon's most since 1983. Never statistically prolific, McMahon only threw nine TD passes. But the Vikes went 9-7 before losing in the wild-card round. Dennis Green's team upgraded by trading for Moon and cutting McMahon, who ended up back with Buddy Ryan in Arizona.

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While free agency began in 1993, the NFL's first salary cap year came in '94. This affected the Giants, who made Phil Simms a high-profile cap casualty. Simms had outlasted Jeff Hostetler, who moved into the starting lineup at points between the 1991 and '92 seasons. After Hostetler's Raiders free agency defection, the Giants restored Simms as an unquestioned starter at 37. Simms responded with his first Pro Bowl since 1985, leading the Giants to the brink of a No. 1 seed. Emmitt Smith's dominant Week 18 showing prevented that, and after a divisional-round loss, the Giants cut Simms to play supplemental first-round pick Dave Brown. Simms then retired.

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Neil O'Donnell had led the Steelers -- with a heavy assist from the "Blitzburgh" defense -- to Super Bowl XXX. The fourth quarter of that game featured two O'Donnell passes hit Cowboys cornerback Larry Brown in the chest. After five O'Donnell QB1 seasons, the team moved on, letting its QB sign a five-year, $25 million deal with the Jets. O'Donnell quarterbacked the Steelers to four straight playoff berths, but the New Jersey native could not live up to the Jets contract. The Steelers turned to backup Mike Tomczak, giving Kordell Stewart another year of training before unleashing him.

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Tomczak still had the Steelers in the 1996 divisional round. The former undrafted free agent had become a frequently used Jim McMahon injury replacement, playing a role in the Bears' decision to trade the popular QB. Tomczak signed with the Steelers in 1993, spending three years as O'Donnell's backup. At 34, he became the O'Donnell-to-Stewart bridge. The Steelers kept the 1995 second-round pick in his "Slash" role in '96, using Tomczak as the starter after Bill Cowher benched Jim Miller during Week 1. Tomczak threw a career-high 17 INTs but was at the helm when the Steelers routed the Colts (and ex-Bears teammate Jim Harbaugh) in the wild-card round. The Steelers kept Tomczak around, re-signing him in 1997, but gave the keys to Stewart.

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After coming out of retirement and earning first-team All-Pro acclaim during a 15-1 season, Randall Cunningham began the 1999 campaign as the Vikings' starter. But the team benched the aging passer for Jeff George. Famous for wearing out his welcome with teams, George played well with a loaded Vikings supporting cast. Minnesota signed the former No. 1 overall pick (one a one-year deal worth just $400,000) after trading Brad Johnson to Washington, and the cannon-armed QB threw 23 TD passes in 12 games. George quarterbacked the Vikings past the Cowboys in the wild-card round, but after a loss to an emerging Rams superpower, he ended up in Washington as well. This cleared the way for first-rounder Daunte Culpepper.

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A season-ending Trent Dilfer injury brought Shaun King into the spotlight during the 1999 season; weeks later, the rookie second-rounder nearly booked a Super Bowl ticket. The Rams edged the Bucs in the NFC title game, but Tampa Bay let Dilfer walk in free agency. Once Dilfer joined the Ravens, King took the reins full time. The 2000 Bucs went 10-6, and King finished with an 18-13 TD-INT ratio. But he completed fewer than 55% of his passes and could not topple the Eagles in the wild-card round. The Bucs then bet big on Brad Johnson, signing that year's top free agent QB to a five-year, $28 million deal. The move helped both Johnson and King, who remained in place as a backup, collect Super Bowl rings.

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Trent Dilfer went 11-1 as the Ravens' starter, taking the reins from a struggling Tony Banks to help turn Baltimore's defense into a legendary unit by being a sound caretaker. This ended in a Super Bowl XXXV rout of the Giants. The Ravens then took the unprecedented step of not re-signing a Super Bowl-winning QB. While the Broncos have seen two QBs retire after Super Bowl wins, the Ravens are the only team to allow the previous season's winning passer to join another team the following year. Baltimore preferred Brad Johnson, but when he chose Tampa Bay, the team went with four-year Kansas City starter Elvis Grbac. The plan backfired; Grbac retired after one Ravens season. Dilfer signed with the Seahawks as a backup.

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Chosen in the second round shortly after the Troy Aikman era ended, Quincy Carter started 34 games for the Cowboys from 2001-03. The Georgia alum delivered his best work in 2003, becoming an unlikely playoff starter in Bill Parcells' Dallas debut. The '03 Cowboys went 10-6, and while they lost a wild-card game to the eventual NFC champion Panthers, Carter was in play to keep his job. A failed drug test changed the team's plans. The Cowboys cut Carter, who had already resided in the NFL's drug program, and turned to 40-year-old Vinny Testaverde as their starter. Reuniting with Parcells that June, the ex-Jet started 15 games in 2004. Carter joined the Jets but was out of the NFL by 2005.

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In a development eerily similar to the Packers' 2023 offseason, the team decided three years on the bench was enough for Aaron Rodgers. Beginning to flirt with retirement annually by the mid-2000s, Brett Favre delivered a throwback 2007 season -- one that featured a narrow loss to the Giants in the NFC championship game. Favre retirement No. 1 commenced, but months later, the 16-year Green Bay starter's first unretirement went down. This fanbase-dividing plotline featured Packers brass denying Favre a 17th Wisconsin year, sticking with Rodgers and negotiating a trade of Favre's rights with multiple teams. The Jets won out over the Buccaneers, and Rodgers remained the Pack's QB1 for 15 years.

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The Eagles rolled out an ice-cold ending for Donovan McNabb in Philly, doing so despite the decorated Andy Reid pupil guiding the Eagles to back-to-back playoff berths to close out his tenure. After losing a duel with Kurt Warner in the 2008 NFC title game, McNabb made his sixth Pro Bowl a year later and guided Philly to an 11-5 record. The Eagles lost to the Cowboys in a wild-card game, and Reid being the one to give Michael Vick a post-prison opportunity led McNabb out of town a year later. Reid traded his 11-year starter to Washington, completing the rare intra-divisional QB swap. His timing proved right, as McNabb quickly declined. But Vick could not stay healthy, helping lead to Reid's firing.

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Matt Hasselbeck spent 10 years as the Seahawks' starting quarterback, a tenure Russell Wilson did not end up eclipsing in length. The former Brett Favre backup played for Mike Holmgren and Jim Mora Jr. in Seattle, but after throwing four TD passes to stun the defending champion Saints in the Beastquake game, Hasselbeck left to join the Titans. Before the 2011 lockout, then-second-year coach Pete Carroll called re-signing the QB his top offseason priority. After the lockout ceased in July, Hasselbeck was Nashville-bound. The Seahawks picked up Tarvaris Jackson as a bridge between Hasselbeck and Wilson, whom the team drafted a year later.

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After having the Browns in rare playoff contention down the stretch in 2014, Hoyer was benched for a disinterested and overmatched Johnny Manziel. Hoyer signed a two-year, $10.5 million deal with the Texans in 2015 and piloted the team -- well, copiloted, as J.J. Watt won a third Defensive Player of the Year prize -- to an AFC South title. The Chiefs then blasted the Texans, 30-0, in the wild-card round. Houston then made a regrettable choice, replacing Hoyer by outbidding the Broncos for Brock Osweiler. The ex-Peyton Manning backup's contract quickly became an albatross. After the Texans cut Hoyer, he ended up as a Jay Cutler Bears backup.

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For a second straight year, the Texans bailed on their playoff starter. The second instance came via a unique transaction. Houston's four-year, $72 million Osweiler deal bombed, with the team benching him late in the season. A Tom Savage injury brought Osweiler back into the fray, and although the Texans won a wild-card game, it came against Raiders third-stringer Connor Cook. Bill O'Brien wanted little to do with a second Osweiler season, but with his 2017 salary guaranteed, the Texans needed to send the Browns a second-round pick in order for the rebuilding team to take on the QB's contract. Weeks after the NBA-style trade, the teams linked up again as the Texans moved up for Deshaun Watson.

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The Chiefs' 2016 playoff berth played a much bigger role in this transition compared to their 2017 venture. Alex Smith had the '16 Chiefs at 12-4 and in place as the AFC's No. 2 seed, but the Steelers strolled to Kansas City and won despite not scoring a touchdown in the divisional-round matchup. That letdown prompted the Chiefs to trade up (via the Bills) 17 spots for Patrick Mahomes. Kansas City exercised patience with its raw talent, stashing him as Smith's backup in 2017. Smith enjoyed a career-best season, but it still ended with a wild-card loss to the Titans. The Chiefs shipped Smith to Washington for Kendall Fuller and a third-round pick, clearing the way for a franchise-altering surge.

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This may be a footnote now, but it was Tyrod Taylor -- and not Josh Allen -- at the controls when the Bills snapped a 17-year playoff drought, which was then the longest active streak in major North American sports. Taylor piloted a run-heavy Bills offense, teaming with LeSean McCoy to lead the team to its first playoff berth since the "Music City Miracle" game. The Sean McDermott- Brandon Beane regime, however, saw what most did in Taylor and traded the productive but moderately talented passer to the Browns for a third-round pick. The Bills then executed two trade-up maneuvers, climbing to No. 7 for Allen.

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Case Keenum replaced an again-injured Sam Bradford early in the 2017 season, and the journeyman proceeded to pace the NFL in quarterback DVOA. The former UDFA guided Minnesota to a 13-3 record and the NFC championship game, throwing 22 TD passes compared to seven INTs. Keenum caught a break via Marcus Williams' gaffe on the "Minneapolis Miracle" play, but rather than the Vikings re-signing him, they entered and won the Kirk Cousins sweepstakes. Outdueling the Jets by giving the former Washington QB a fully guaranteed three-year, $84 million deal, the Vikings moved on. Keenum signed a two-year, $36M Broncos pact but was out of Denver after a season.

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Tom Brady had strangely agreed to multiple team-friendly contracts, and the Patriots helped use those deals to string together three more Super Bowl wins from 2014-18. Those conquests separated Brady -- in terms of ring count and, in the eyes of most, in stature -- from his rivals. But the legendary passer sought a longer-term commitment from the Patriots in 2019. Nothing materialized ahead of his age-42 season, which ended with a first-round home loss to the Titans. With the Brady-Bill Belichick relationship deteriorating, the Patriots were not a serious contender for the QB in 2020, as a Buccaneers-Chargers derby took place. New England moved on with Cam Newton and has not been the same since.

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Going as far as he believed he could with Jared Goff, Sean McVay made a power play for Matthew Stafford. The McVay-Goff relationship spanned four seasons, included three playoff berths and a Super Bowl LIII appearance. The Rams' three-point outing that night became a Goff tipping point. By the time the former No. 1 pick was back in the playoffs two years later, it came in an off-the-bench role. Post-finger surgery, Goff replaced a concussed John Wolford to help the Rams upset the Seahawks. But the Rams still included his contract -- then an anchor that affected trade talks -- in the deal that brought Stafford from Detroit. This turned out to be a win-win trade.

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Defensive holdovers from the Vic Fangio era powered a flawed Bears team to the playoffs, with Chicago's 2020 squad beginning a run of shaky No. 7 seeds in the NFC playoffs . Mitch Trubisky lost his job to Nick Foles early in the season but regained it, and the Bears enjoyed a soft finish to their schedule to limp into the playoffs at 8-8. Trubisky stood little chance of coming back, despite being part of two Bears playoff teams. Chicago having chosen him over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson remains a haunting draft miss. Trubisky signed to be Josh Allen's backup in Buffalo, and Chicago soon signed Andy Dalton and traded up for Justin Fields.