Where Jimmy Garoppolo, Baker Mayfield, 2022 draft prospects could land as NFL QB landscape clears up

And then there were two.

Thirty NFL franchises have all but settled their starting quarterback jobs less than a week into the 2022 league year. That leaves the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks as the lone holdouts without obvious QB1s.

There are also only two starting-caliber veteran quarterbacks still available: the San Francisco 49ers‘ Jimmy Garoppolo and the Cleveland Browns‘ Baker Mayfield. It seems natural to pair one of those signal-callers each with the Panthers and Seahawks and put a bow on the quarterback landscape before the 2022 NFL Draft, right?

If only it were that easy.

NFL Team	Projected Starting QB	Offseason Move
Arizona Cardinals	Kyler Murray
Atlanta Falcons	Marcus Mariota	Signed as free agent; traded Matt Ryan
Baltimore Ravens	Lamar Jackson
Buffalo Bills	Josh Allen
Carolina Panthers	Sam Darnold
Chicago Bears	Justin Fields
Cincinnati Bengals	Joe Burrow
Cleveland Browns	Deshaun Watson	Acquired in trade; Baker Mayfield not yet traded
Dallas Cowboys	Dak Prescott
Denver Broncos	Russell Wilson	Acquired in trade
Detroit Lions	Jared Goff
Green Bay Packers	Aaron Rodgers	Signed to extension
Houston Texans	Davis Mills	Traded Watson
Indianapolis Colts	Matt Ryan	Acquired in trade; traded Carson Wentz
Jacksonville Jaguars	Trevor Lawrence
Kansas City Chiefs	Patrick Mahomes
Las Vegas Raiders	Derek Carr
Los Angeles Chargers	Justin Herbert
Los Angeles Rams	Matthew Stafford	Signed to extension
Miami Dolphins	Tua Tagovailoa
Minnesota Vikings	Kirk Cousins	Signed to extension
New England Patriots	Mac Jones
New Orleans Saints	Jameis Winston	Re-signed
New York Giants	Daniel Jones
New York Jets	Zach Wilson
Philadelphia Eagles	Jalen Hurts
Pittsburgh Steelers	Mitchell Trubisky	Signed as free agent; Ben Roethlisberger retired
San Francisco 49ers	Trey Lance	Jimmy Garoppolo not yet traded
Seattle Seahawks	Drew Lock	Acquired in trade for Russell Wilson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Tom Brady	Unretired
Tennessee Titans	Ryan Tannehill
Washington Commanders	Carson Wentz	Acquired in trade

Garoppolo underwent shoulder surgery after the 2021 season concluded and might not be able to throw until training camp. That’s clearly affecting his trade value and why players like Mariota, Ryan, Winston, Trubisky and Wentz came off the board in signings and trades before him. Garoppolo is signed only through this season with a $24.2 million salary and might be just a one-year gap starter for a new team (or his current one, but we’ll get to that later). The fact that he cannot currently throw is not exactly a selling point.