Best quarterbacks available in the 2022 NFL Draft and free agency

The Super Bowl is done and dusted, which means all 32 NFL teams are firmly into team-building season. The 2022 NFL offseason is all about 31 teams trying to build a roster capable of winning next year’s Super Bowl, while the defending champions make sure they can retain their crown.

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The big debate is where you invest resources. Teams can attack positions of need in free agency, the draft and even via trade. In this series, we will take a look at each position group and where the strengths lie in each of those areas for any teams in need. Today we'll look at quarterbacks. (Find previous analysis on available wide receivers here.)

Best Free Agents

Jameis Winston (Rank among PFF's top-200 free agents: 41)
Teddy Bridgewater (49)
Marcus Mariota (60)
Andy Dalton (113)
Ryan Fitzpatrick (117)
Mitchell Trubisky (126)
Jacoby Brissett (144)
Tyrod Taylor (148)
Geno Smith (181)
Colt McCoy(200)

For quarterback-needy teams desperate for a starter who can lead them to the promised land, free agency typically isn’t the first port of call. That’s no less true this season than any other. Jameis Winston and Teddy Bridgewater were starters last season, but Bridgewater demonstrated a very real ceiling to his game and Winston got hurt before we could see what he was capable of over a full season playing for Sean Payton.

Winston remains a highly volatile passer, capable of big plays and disasters in almost equal measure. His box score stats were good at the time he went down injured, but the advanced numbers and PFF grade were a little more restrained. Winston’s big-time throw rate (7.1%) was on course for the best of his career, and his turnover-worthy play rate (3.0%) was also on pace for a career-best. There are teams desperate enough at the position who might consider Winston on a modest contract, which would them to plow resources into other areas to try and maintain a good team around him.

Bridgewater likely played his way to the bench in the future, as did Andy Dalton. Ryan Fitzpatrick’s age probably means his chances as a starter are done, and the rest of the list seem unlikely to get starts barring injury.