For every Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre, there’s a Joe Namath or a Johnny Unitas.
In other words, while some notable NFL quarterbacks found great success after changing teams…others quickly came to realize that not all fresh starts end up leading to better results. In many cases.
With that said, let’s dive into five recent NFL quarterbacks who found great success after changing teams, and five who inexplicably got worse.
Did Great: Tom Brady
What more can be said about TB12’s three-year run in Tampa Bay that hasn’t already been said?
The GOAT left the New England Patriots after 20 years and chose to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 free agency, inking a two-year deal.
All Brady did in his first season with Tampa was lead them to a Super Bowl 55 championship over Patrick Mahomes and the mighty Kansas City Chiefs. What followed was two straight NFC South division crowns.
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In just three years, Brady racked up 108 touchdown passes and 14,643 passing yards — which was enough for the third-most in franchise history. Ridiculous stuff, we know.
Brady silenced all the doubters who thought he was mostly successful because of Bill Belichick and the Patriot Way. He only added to his legacy by producing two more MVP-caliber seasons, a Super Bowl championship and two division banners.
Yeah, we’d say Brady did just fine after leaving the Patriots.
Sucked: Carson Wentz
Carson Wentz was once viewed as the future of the Eagles’ franchise. The organization trusted him so much that they traded up via the Cleveland Browns to take Wentz second overall in the 2016 NFL draft.
Wentz would have likely won the 2017 league MVP if he didn’t suffer a season-ending ACL tear late in the year. Even though Nick Foles was up for the challenge and led the Eagles to the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy that year, Philly chose Wentz over their Super Bowl hero.
In 2019, Wentz was handed a four-year extension worth $128 million, months after Foles left for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
After a miserable 2020 season, the Eagles fired head coach Doug Pederson and opted to move on from Wentz – wanting to see what Jalen Hurts could do as the QB1. In the offseason, Wentz was traded to the Indianapolis Colts — who needed a new QB after losing Philip Rivers to retirement.
There was some excitement around Wentz’s arrival in Indy, since he was reuniting with head coach Frank Reich — who served as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator during Wentz’s first two seasons.
Wentz showed some improvement alright, but the Colts collapsed down the stretch and finished 9-8 to miss out on the postseason. Their Week 18 loss to the league’s worst team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, cost them a playoff spot — and it was simply too much for owner Jim Irsay to handle.
So Wentz was traded to the Washington Commanders in 2022. He went from “meh” in Indy to awful in Washington, losing five of seven starts while tossing 11 touchdowns against nine interceptions.
It took the Commanders just one year to give up on Wentz, who was released in 2023. Sadly, it’s become all too obvious that Wentz isn’t a starting QB unless he’s an Eagle. And with the way Jalen Hurts is playing there, why would they bring Wentz back?
Did Great: Matthew Stafford
In 2021, the Detroit Lions cleaned house and brought in a brand new coaching and front office staff. The new brass and Matthew Stafford agreed to start afresh, so he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in the 2021 offseason.
The Rams surrendered Jared Goff. a 2021 third-rounder and their 2022 and 2023 first-round picks. Sean McVay and company simply believed that his team was just one minor upgrade at QB away from winning a championship – and boy was he right.
The No. 1 pick of the 2009 Draft quickly found his footing in La La Land and tossed 4,886 yards and 41 touchdowns — leading the Rams to the NFC West division crown. Stafford also helped Cooper Kupp win the triple crown of receiving as well as Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Stafford-mania continued over into the postseason. In four playoff games, he completed 70 percent of pass attempts for 1,189 yards and nine touchdowns and three picks for an insane passer rating of 108.3.
Stafford led the Rams to game-winning drives against Tom Brady and the defending champion Bucs in the Divisional Round, against the rival 49ers in the NFC Championship and of course against the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl 56.
In the big game, he threw a game-winning TD to who else but Kupp in the final minute.
Quite frankly, it doesn’t matter how Stafford does the rest of the way in Los Angeles. He was brought in to bring the team a championship — and Stafford did that in his first year there.
Stafford and Brady: The golden standards of succeeding with your new team right away.
Sucked: Deshaun Watson
We’d like to emphasize that Watson can obviously turn things around and live up to the sky-high expectations in Cleveland. Who knows? In today’s crazy world of football, maybe even Wentz enjoys a career revival elsewhere. Probably not, but weirder things have happened…
Bottom line: We have to go based on what we’ve seen so far. And Watson stunk terribly in his first year with the Browns. Maybe it wasn’t surprising given that he was away from football for two years and his off-field legal issues that kept him away from the gridiron — but still — the Browns’ organization clearly expected better.
Watson was acquired in a blockbuster trade from the Houston Texans, then handed a five-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $230 million.
After serving an 11-game suspension, Watson returned and…played far worse than backup Jacoby Brissett. Watson completed 58.2 percent of pass attempts — a career-low — for seven touchdowns and five picks.
He didn’t have a single 300-yard game and was held to under 200 yards passing in four of those six games.
Given what Cleveland gave up for Watson — and considering all the PR backlash they took — you can’t help but wonder if they’re already regretting this trade.
It already looks like a mess after year one, but if the Browns are okay with the negative PR, the only way they can be happy with the Watson trade is if he leads them to a Super Bowl. Do you realistically see that happening, though?
Did Great: Jared Goff
Goff was once viewed as a simple throw-in for the aforementioned Stafford blockbuster trade in order to make the dollars work for LA. But Goff, playing with a huge chip on his shoulder, turned out to be anything but a throw-in.
Playing on a tanking Lions team in 2021, Goff completed 67.2 percent of pass attempts — a career high — for 19 touchdowns and just eight picks. The INT total was actually Goff’s lowest in four years.
Goff regained his Pro Bowl form in 2022, completing 65.1 percent of pass attempts for 4,438 yards and 29 touchdowns — the second-best mark of his career — and only seven interceptions. The latter mark, by the way, tied the lowest total of Goff’s career.
Not only that, but Goff led the Lions to a surprise 9-and-8 finish — their first winning season in five years. They only missed out on the playoffs because of a tiebreaker — but Goff and the Lions ended the season on a beautiful note by eliminating the Green Bay Packers from playoff contention at Lambeau Field.
The Lions now view Goff as their starter instead of a bridge to their next option. What a feel-good story he’s become, considering that Goff’s old team couldn’t wait to get rid of him some years ago.
Sucked: Russell Wilson
Same deal as the Deshaun Watson entry: Wilson’s got time to turn things around here with his new team. But again, we gotta go off the results we’ve seen thus far.
Wilson was nothing short of awful in his first year with the Denver Broncos after coming over via trade with Seattle. The Broncos finished with the No. 32 scoring offense, as Wilson tossed a career-low 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Considering Denver handed Wilson $245 million before he took a snap for them? NOT ideal. Also not good that they gave up a giant package that included two first-round picks to the Seahawks, who in-turn returned to the postseason with Geno Smith as their starter.
You gotta think Denver would take a mulligan on this trade if given the chance. For now, they have to cross their fingers and hope Wilson regains his superstar-like form with Sean Payton now at the helm…
Did Great: Kirk Cousins
Love or hate him, there’s no denying that Cousins has been a great addition for the Minnesota Vikings. The statistics don’t at all lie.
It’s not Cousins’ fault that the Vikings held onto defensive-first head coach Mike Zimmer for far too long — or that they failed to give him a good defense or offensive line. Cousins has done his part in the Gopher State. Put him on that 2017 team that reached the NFC Championship, and maybe they win the Super Bowl.
Cousins signed a three-year deal worth $84 million in fully guaranteed money back in 2018. He has led them to three winning seasons, two playoff appearances and one NFC North division crown.
From 2018 to 2022, Cousins had the NFL’s fourth-most passing touchdowns and completions and the fifth-most passing yards. A 46-33-1 record through five seasons in the Gopher State is no joke.
Argue about the team’s lack of playoff success all you want, but Cousins himself has been significantly better in Minnesota compared to what we saw in Washington. Zero 30-TD seasons in DC, but three with the Vikings in just five years. That speaks for itself.
If only the Vikings could build a winner around him…
Sucked: Baker Mayfield
Mayfield had a great rookie year, then a terrible sophomore year…then a solid third-year. In 2020, the first overall pick of 2018 led the Browns to their first playoff appearance in 18 years — as well as their first postseason victory since 1994.
Mayfield courageously tried playing through injuries in 2021, but the Browns missed the playoffs and decided to make a change. They made the controversial trade for Watson and sent Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers.
Mayfield was unable to make the most of his fresh start, however. He lost five of six starts and completed just 57.8 percent of pass attempts with six touchdowns against six interceptions. Carolina released Mayfield, who wound up finishing the year with the Rams after they lost Matt Stafford for the year.
The QB-needy Bucs signed Mayfield in 2023 free agency following Tom Brady’s retirement. But being on his fourth team in three seasons, you just know what Mayfield is at this point of his career: A high-end backup at best. Not a long-term starter.
You do feel for him, because he took Cleveland to the playoffs in his last fully healthy season. He absolutely deserved a fifth year there, but the Browns are gonna Browns, we guess…
Did Great: Ryan Tannehill
After seven inconsistent years in South Beach, the Miami Dolphins dealt Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans as they not-so-secretly began a tank-job.
It felt like a salary dump and nothing more. But after Titans’ starting QB Marcus Mariota got off to a rough start in 2019, Mike Vrabel gave up and decided to give Tannehill a shot. The rest, as they say, is history.
Tannehill went on a tear with his new team, winning seven of 10 starts while completing 70.3 percent of pass attempts for 22 touchdowns and just six interceptions. Tannehill led Tennessee to upset wins over Tom Brady’s Patriots and MVP Lamar Jackson and the top-seeded Ravens en route to a surprise AFC title game appearance.
Tennessee’s Cinderella season ended with a loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, but it certainly wasn’t all for naught. Tannehill won Comeback Player of the Year honors and landed a four-year contract extension worth $118 million.
Tannehill proved it was no fluke by leading the Titans to consecutive AFC South division titles in 2020 and 2021 — even helping them to the AFC’s top seed in the latter year. Tannehill went from afterthought in Miami to a borderline star in Music City while turning the Titans back into a playoff contender.
Sometimes, a man just needs a fresh start. And Tannehill certainly made the most of his.
Sucked: Matt Ryan
The Falcons sunk to mediocrity following their Super Bowl 51 collapse. Had it not been for the consistent production from Matt Ryan, however, they would have been near the very bottom of the standings.
After another non-playoff season in 2021, the Falcons decided to pursue Deshaun Watson despite his legal situation. That understandably upset Matty Ice, who agreed with the front office that it was time for a change.
The 2016 league MVP was traded to the Indianapolis Colts for a third-round draft choice. Many expected Ryan to make a smooth transition into Frank Reich’s offense, but things inexplicably just worsened for everyone there.
Indy’s once-elite offensive line crumbled and became a giant mess. Reich lost his magic touch and couldn’t get much out of Ryan, who went 4-7-1 with just 14 touchdowns against 13 interceptions.
Reich was fired midseason and replaced by Jeff Saturday despite the latter having zero NFL coaching experience. Sam Ehlinger and Nick Foles wound up starting games in place of Ryan, who was let go by the Colts after the season.
Ryan went unsigned in 2023 and took a role with CBS.
What other NFL quarterbacks were great after switching teams, and which ones were awful?
