Best quarterbacks available in the 2024 NFL Draft and free agency

• Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, are among the best free-agent QBs: Cousins is still a top quarterback, and Russell Wilson can be a solid starter in an environment tailored to his strengths.

• Justin Fields is the top trade option: Fields is still improving in all areas and could easily emerge as a very high-level quarterback in the right situation.

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Quarterback is the most important position in football, and we don’t need to look any further than last year’s Houston Texans to see an example of how getting the right one can transform a franchise. The Texans were expected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL before the season, only to make the playoffs with C.J. Stroud throwing the football.

For teams looking to make a change at the position, there are three key ways to do so: free agency, the NFL draft and the trade market. Here, we will explore the landscape for each.

Best 2024 NFL Free Agents

Kirk Cousins (No. 2 in PFF’s Free Agency Rankings)
Baker Mayfield (45)
Ryan Tannehill (69)
Russell Wilson (75)
Gardner Minshew (92)
Jacoby Brissett (127)
Jameis Winston (131)
Tyrod Taylor (155)

Teams don’t let good quarterbacks hit the open market very often. The only one available is 35 years old, coming off an Achilles injury and likely wants a continuation of his contract history that will see him get three fully guaranteed years of money.

Cousins is a top quarterback, albeit still one who is a step down from the new wave of freakish talents like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. He has posted overall PFF grades of at least 83.4 in four of his past five seasons, and his best year saw him push that figure up to 88.2.

If teams are happy his Achilles is in good shape, even at his age, they could easily convince themselves that he is capable of high-level seasons; it just won’t be a long-term plan.

After Cousins, the prospect of starters gets very questionable. Wilson showed last season he can still be a solid starter for Denver, and will be an option for somebody, but the NFL is also acutely aware now that his offense needs to be tailored to him.

Mayfield will likely re-sign with Tampa Bay but could be a starting option for somebody if he doesn’t. After that, we are looking at bridge options to a younger, more talented player.

Best 2024 NFL Draft Prospects

Caleb Williams, USC (PFF Big Board Rank: 1)
Drake Maye, North Carolina (3)
Jayden Daniels, LSU (11)
Bo Nix, Oregon (20)
Michael Penix Jr., Washington (29)
J.J. McCarthy, Michigan (52)
Michael Pratt, Tulane (77)
Spencer Rattler, South Carolina (87)
Jordan Travis, Florida State (145)
Joe Milton III, Tennessee (172)

Caleb Williams is taking an unorthodox approach to the pre-draft process. He hasn’t hired an agent, didn’t work out at the NFL Scouting Combine and is taking the unprecedented step of only disseminating his medical information to teams he is meeting with. He is, nevertheless, the clear top prospect of this year’s class. Williams is a quarterback who makes the special look routine, but he can also make the routine work better than people give him credit for, something the other prospects don’t always succeed at.

Drake Maye versus Jayden Daniels is building up to be the biggest debate of this year’s class, and then after that, it's which quarterback is going to emerge as QB4 in the class between Bo Nix, J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix Jr.

That group likely represents the only passers teams are looking at as early starters, but Spencer Rattler has become everybody’s favorite mid-round sleeper pick — one with starting potential in many people’s eyes. Rattler started his career with a spectacular season at Oklahoma before losing his job to Caleb Williams and eventually rebuilding himself at South Carolina.

Best QBs Available Via Trade

This group gets ugly fast after Justin Fields. It’s been a slow burn, but Fields is still improving in all areas and could easily emerge as a very high-level quarterback in the right situation. The reason he is available is because it’s about to get very expensive to play that waiting game. This is the last year of relative cost-control for Fields, and after that, he is due the big-money second contract.

There are enough quarterback-needy teams that somebody will roll the dice on him this offseason.

Mac Jones has seen his career crater after a promising rookie season, and Jimmy Garoppolo will do well to find another starting job after this season. Trey Lance and Zach Wilson are pure reclamation projects at this point.