NFL Free Agency: 5 Best Quarterbacks Available In 2025

The crop of quarterbacks that will be available during the 2025 NFL Free Agency period isn’t exactly the deepest. The best option on the market will be a guy that people considered a journeyman this time last year, and there are only a handful of options that teams would even consider for a starting role.

NFL Free Agency: 5 Best Quarterbacks Available In 2025

Who are the best signal callers that will be available this year? Here are the top five options that teams around the league will have to choose from:

1. Sam Darnold

This year’s class is headlined by Sam Darnold, who enjoyed a career resurgence in 2024. A late-season collapse may have cost him some money in free agency, as he struggled in two of the most important games of the year for the Vikings.

But Spotrac has his market value estimated at around $40 million annually. He will almost surely be the quarterback who receives the biggest offer, given his recent production combined with his relatively young age, and will have plenty of teams interested in his services.

Keep an eye on the New York Giants as a possible destination, which would bring Darnold back to the city that he spent the first three seasons of his career with.

From The Insiders: The #Vikings continue to want Sam Darnold back, while also trying to build a team around him. It’s one of several needles to thread in Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/MRdxUKu3lv

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 7, 2025

2. Russell Wilson

He is certainly the most accomplished of the quarterbacks that will be on the free agent market, but Russell Wilson’s advancing age will keep him from securing any type of long-term deal. He will turn 37 years old during the 2025 NFL season, and played in just 11 games last year while dealing with a calf injury.

Wilson was signed to a one-year deal by the Steelers in 2024, and will likely receive similar offers this time around. His deal last year was valued at the league minimum ($1.2 million), so it will be interesting to see if he earns any more than that in 2025. He is still being paid from his gaudy contract with the Denver Broncos, who will again eat $32 million in dead cap after parting ways with Wilson after the 2023 campaign.

Returning to the Steelers is a possibility, and the Raiders would be a logical destination given his history with Pete Carroll.

3. Justin Fields

Justin Fields hasn’t lived up to his billing as a former 11th overall draft pick, but is one of the young options who has arguably the most upside for teams looking to fill their quarterback vacancy. He started six games for the Steelers in 2024, and posted a 4-2 record while throwing for 5 touchdowns and just 1 interception. He is a dual threat option as well, perhaps the best one of those on the board this year, adding 5 touchdowns with his legs last season.

Will he get a chance to sign a long-term deal? Depending on how things shake out with Darnold and Wilson as well as with the NFL Draft, Fields might be able to nab a contract with a length of two years. It is unclear if teams still view him as a full-time starter, or if he’ll be brought it to create a quarterback competition in training camp.

The Steelers could be interested in bringing Fields back if the situation calls for it.

If Justin Fields leaves Pittsburgh because of mistrust with Mike Tomlin, it be totally understandable.

Players and coaches wanted to go back to Fields. Most didn’t want him to be benched, and Tomlin did it anyway. No one to blame but him if Fields leaves.

— Jarrett Bailey (@JBaileyNFL) March 7, 2025

4. Daniel Jones

The New York Giants mercifully cut ties with Daniel Jones in the middle of last season, ending a tumultuous six-year partnership. The former 6th overall pick parlayed a couple of average seasons into a big contract extension in 2023, but his performance thereafter was nothing short of disastrous. Jones has played in 16 games combined during the last two NFL seasons, throwing for 10 touchdowns versus 13 interceptions while posting a record of 3-13.

The Vikings took him in as a backup to end the 2024 campaign, though he never saw the field. There is a chance that Minnesota brings him back as a backup to JJ McCarthy, or to provide the second-year QB with competition in training camp. It is unlikely that any QB-needy teams around the league view him as anything more than a second-stringer.

5. Jameis Winston

Winston is well removed from his days as a productive NFL quarterback, and hasn’t been considered a full-time starter since all the way back in 2019. But he has come on in relief for both the Saints and Browns over the past few years, and even had a 14 touchdown, 3 interception season for New Orleans in 2021.

Winston provided Cleveland with some entertainment last year while filling in for Deshaun Watson, including two fourth quarter comebacks. But he was as erratic as ever in 2024, as he threw 12 interceptions while starting 7 games, while also posting the second-highest single game yardage total of the season with 497 passing yards in Week 13.

He won’t be brought in to be a starter, but will almost certainly land one of the better backup jobs in the league.