The quarterback carousel always moves fastest when teams start trimming rosters, and this year could bring a few notable names into the trade conversation before the NFL gets to its initial 53-man deadline on Sunday, August 30.
Some of these situations are about pedigree. Others are about crowded depth charts and front offices deciding there just isn’t room to keep waiting. Either way, four quarterbacks stand out as possible trade candidates ahead of the 2026 NFL season.
Anthony Richardson is the clearest name to watch in Indianapolis. The Colts have been telegraphing this for a while, and at this point he looks like a full-on reclamation project for whoever is willing to take the swing.
He hasn’t done much lately to boost his value with the Colts, but they are still expected to give him a chance to put something on tape by playing him with some of the starters in the preseason finale. That’s about as obvious a trade showcase as you’ll find.
Richardson is in a contract year, and while his best shot may be somewhere else, Indianapolis is not positioned to get much back for the former 4th overall pick. The Colts have already moved into the Daniel Jones era, with Riley Leonard and Easton Stick behind him.
JJ McCarthy’s situation in Minnesota is a different kind of mess. The Vikings could keep him around, but after everything that has happened this offseason, there’s a real chance he could lose the backup job to veteran Carson Wentz after losing the QB1 battle to Kyler Murray.
That would be a brutal turn for the 2024 1st-round pick. McCarthy is still very young, and the source of his story so far has been his play on the field, but the way things have gone in Minnesota has already put him through plenty of humility.
If he’s going to get back on track, he needs a place where the confidence can be rebuilt, the pressure dialed back, and the patience extended.
Will Levis is another quarterback who could be available, even if the label attached to him right now might lean more meme than momentum. Teams still see what they always see with him: “Elite arm talent” and “Outstanding athletic traits”.
But Levis is buried in Tennessee behind Cam Ward, last year’s #1 overall pick, and veteran Mitchell Trubisky. The current regime also doesn’t have any real attachment to him.
The Titans probably won’t land a major return, but they could get something, and that alone makes a move possible. Levis was a 2nd-round pick in 2023, and after opting for surgery last year, he missed the entire season while rehabbing.
His market should become clearer soon.
Then there’s Will Howard in Pittsburgh, where the numbers simply don’t add up. The Steelers have Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph sitting as the top two quarterbacks, while Howard, a 2025 6th-round pick, has been competing with 2026 3rd-round pick Drew Allar for the third spot.
Pittsburgh may prefer to try to sneak Howard onto the practice squad, especially with the team having said it believes Allar is a 1st-round type of talent. But carrying four quarterbacks is a strange setup for any roster, and the Steelers are unlikely to go that route.
Howard has shown well in his chances, even with mistakes and inconsistencies, and Pittsburgh could still try to get some value for him instead of risking losing him for nothing.
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