When it comes down to it—the quarterback position is at the center of the success that an NFL team does… or doesn’t have. All of the right pieces can be in place on the rest of the roster, but if the signal-caller isn’t right, it can all be for not. This effect is magnified when a team tries to bring in a QB on the free agent market to complete their roster—and get over the hump to make a deep playoff run.
On the other side of that same coin, though, if a want-to-be contender adds the right QB during free agency, it can change everything!
Let’s take a look back at five QB free agency signings that worked out in a major way—and five that RUINED the team.
Which QB free agent signings worked out, and which ones did not?
Worked Out: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady
This is an obvious one… It is hard for a QB free agent signing to go better than it did for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they did the unthinkable and lured Tom Brady away from the Evil Empire in Foxborough to join the rowdy crew down in Southwest Florida.
What people in and around the league didn’t realize was that he wanted a fresh start, top-dollar guaranteed, and a chance to prove that his greatness wasn’t confined to the “system” of Bill Belichick.
And perhaps get away from some of that cold weather in Foxborough. And boy, did he deliver.
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Other talented free agents, veterans and younger guys alike, started to flock to Tampa for a chance to play with Tom and the roster really came together.
Brady was able to elevate the Bucs to a Super Bowl in his first year with the team, further solidifying his legacy as perhaps the greatest quarterback and competitor that the game has ever seen—and made the franchise relevant in a way that it hadn’t been in well over a decade.
Tampa Bay swung for the fences leading up to the 2020 season, and, man, did they hit a home run with this quarterback signing!
Ruined the Team: Las Vegas Raiders, Jimmy Garoppolo
This one kind of felt doomed from the jump—like deep down, everyone knew it, but the Raiders wanted to stick their heads in the sand and hope for the best.
After being cast aside in San Francisco, Jimmy Garoppolo hit the open market in 2023 and somehow convinced the Las Vegas Raiders to hand him a three-year, $72.75 million deal to be their answer at quarterback.
If it seems illogical, look no further than the man behind the logic, Josh McDaniels, who isn’t exactly known for his sound decisions.
He figured Garoppolo knew his system and was a “winner.”
What they got instead was a mess—on and off the field.
Jimmy G couldn’t stay healthy. When he was on the field, he was erratic, turnover-prone, and clearly out of sync with the offense. By midseason, he had already lost the job to fourth-round rookie Aidan O’Connell… and by the end of the year, he was slapped with a two-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Now he’s out of town, the Raiders are eating dead money, and most likely going to be stuck drafting another quarterback and left to pretend that the Garoppolo signing was a fever dream.
Worked Out: Minnesota Vikings, Kirk Cousins
Say what you will about the fully guaranteed contract—sure, it raised a few eyebrows… Or about Kirk Cousin’s ceiling as a quarterback… but the Vikings knew exactly what they were doing when they made Kirk Cousins their guy and signed him as QB free agent.
They didn’t need a Mahomes-type magician. They needed stability. A quarterback who could make the throws, run the offense, and give them a shot in every game. And that’s exactly what Cousins delivered.
After arriving in Minnesota, he was a model of consistency, helping get them to the playoffs—and providing a reliable arm to throw to the team’s talented young receivers.
Cousins kept Justin Jefferson’s rise on schedule and he did it all while avoiding the typical quarterback drama that derails so many other franchises.
Did it lead to a Super Bowl… well… no. But Cousins brought the Vikings exactly what they paid for: credibility at the most important position on the field—and relevance in the NFC.
Ruined the Team: New England Patriots, Cam Newton
On paper, this looked like a classic Bill Belichick value play—bringing in a former MVP at a bargain-basement price. The idea was simple: Cam Newton would reset his career in Foxborough, and the Patriots would stay afloat after the Tom Brady era.
Yeah… that didn’t happen.
Cam came in talking about how humbled he was, how driven he felt, and how ready he was to prove the doubters wrong. Early on, there were flashes, but some of the nagging injuries started to pile up, and at a certain point, the truth was hard to ignore. His arm wasn’t the same, the mechanics were all over the place, and he looked lost in the Patriots offense.
New England finished 7–9 and missed the playoffs, which—around those parts—is code red.
As much as the team tried to keep up appearances, it was clear that Cam was a square peg in Foxborough—and that any of the early signs of promise were all an illusion.
Worked Out: Denver Broncos, Peyton Manning
When the Broncos signed Peyton Manning in 2012, people were optimistic that he could revive the winning culture in the Mile High City, but to be honest, nobody really knew what to expect after the famous QB free agent signed with the Broncos. He was coming off major neck surgery, released by the only team he’d ever known, and entering his age-36 season with questions about whether he could even throw a football again.
But any and all questions about the move were answered in full almost immediately as Manning turned Denver into an offensive juggernaut overnight. He threw for over 4,600 yards in his first year, followed it up with a record-breaking 5,477-yard, 55-touchdown campaign in 2013, and helped lead the Broncos to two Super Bowl appearances—winning one in his final season.
It wasn’t just the statistics and the wins either, but he made Denver a place that free agents wanted to go—similar to Brady in Tampa a few years later.
Obviously, Manning fell off a cliff in his last season, ironically the one that Denver ended up winning the Super Bowl in… But the fact of the matter is that Peyton brought relevance, legitimacy, and championship expectations back to Denver the second he landed—all the way through his glorious retirement.
John Elway’s decision to court and sign Peyton didn’t just work out—it change the entire narrative around his career as an executive and made the Broncos matter again.
Ruined the Team: Jacksonville Jaguars, Nick Foles
We’ve all had that moment where something felt like a good idea in theory… and then fell apart in spectacular fashion. That, in a nutshell, was the Nick Foles Experience in Jacksonville.
Fresh off his Super Bowl heroics in Philly—where he stepped in for Carson Wentz and delivered the city its first Lombardi Trophy—Foles hit the open market with more goodwill than any backup-turned-folk-hero could ever dream of. And the Jaguars? They bought all of it.
In March 2019, Jacksonville handed him a four-year, $88 million contract, with $50 million guaranteed.
And from the jump, it felt… off. They would have been better off paying for the actual statue outside Lincoln Financial Field! At least that would have tanked their play on the field.
It took one game—one—for the dream to unravel. Foles broke his collarbone in the season opener, missed eight weeks, came back rusty, and was promptly benched for rookie Gardner Minshew. That was it. Four games, zero momentum, and $50 million lighting itself on fire.
The Jaguars didn’t just miscalculate—they derailed their entire rebuild in the process.
Worked Out: New Orleans Saints, Drew Brees
You can’t tell the story of modern NFL free agency without the Drew Brees signing.
Before he was Canton bound… way back in 2006, Brees was damaged goods—coming off major shoulder surgery and turned down by the Dolphins in favor of Daunte Culpepper…
New Orleans, coming out of the tragedy that was Hurricane Katrina and in full rebuild mode, took the gamble on the undersized quarterback, and he rewarded them handsomely.
Brees changed everything for the franchise. Under Sean Payton’s tutelage, he became the face of the Saints. He led the league in passing five times, made 12 Pro Bowls, broke records left and right, and—oh yeah—delivered the franchise’s only Super Bowl in 2009.
This was more than a good signing. This was a culture shift that revived the soul of the city—and took New Orleans from NFL irrelevance to perennial contenders.
Ruined the Team: Baltimore Ravens, Elvis Grbac
Sometimes, a QB free agent signing just… kills momentum.
After winning the Super Bowl in 2000 with a lights-out defense and what many would describe as a barely-functioning offense, the Ravens made a move to upgrade at quarterback—cutting Trent Dilfer and handing a five-year, $30 million deal to Elvis Grbac.
Grbac completely flopped. He threw more picks than touchdowns, couldn’t command the offense, and looked overwhelmed in big moments.
All of this ugliness reared its head in the divisional round loss to the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, he laid a total egg—throwing three picks.
He was cut after one season and never played another down in the NFL again—and as far as Baltimore was concerned, the move tanked their chances at a repeat, threw the offense into chaos, and set the franchise back years at the quarterback spot.
Worked Out: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baker Mayfield
After bouncing around from Cleveland to Carolina to L.A., Baker Mayfield looked like he was going to be a journeyman for the rest of his career.
Not bad work if you can get it, but far from the expectations that surrounded him when he entered the league as the number one overall pick in the draft just a few years prior.
To spend the rest of his career on the backup circuit—or a spot starter, honestly, might’ve been too much for Baker’s ego to bail.
But luckily, Tampa Bay called—and Baker seized the moment.
Signed on a one-year prove-it deal, he walked into a post-Brady locker room with low expectations and completely rewrote the narrative.
He threw for over 4,000 yards, tossed 28 touchdowns, and led the Bucs to a division title and a playoff win—beating the Eagles in convincing fashion. He played smart, tough, and—most importantly—relevant football again.
And now he’s earned himself a long-term contract and a second life in the league with a team that is steadily improving with him as the steady hand under center.
Say what you will about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization, but this is a team that knows how to find the right offensive talent on the QB free-agent market and make it work!
Ruined the Team: Chicago Bears, Mike Glennon
The Chicago Bears have never been one to make particularly sound decisions… Particularly when it comes to the offensive side of the ball—and the quarterback position.
After all, this is one of the league’s most historic franchises—they have been around FOREVER, and there have been two quarterbacks in team history that have had any sort of national relevance.
But still! It is shocking that they decided that Mike Glennon deserved a three-year contract with a $18.5 million guarantee.
That number may not sound massive now… but at the time, it was significant! And given the return and the impact on the franchise, it was a disaster.
For those who don’t remember… The Bears did this after watching Mike Glennon started 13 games as a rookie with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2013, during which he went four and nine—before playing just eight games over the next three seasons.
But that didn’t stop the Bears from handing him a $45 million deal anyway.
Needless to say, this didn’t go particularly well… Glennon tossed five interceptions in four starts during the 2017 season, then Chicago turned to first-round draft pick Mitch Trubisky, creating the quarterback cascade that we’ve seen play out in the Windy City in the time since.
