Quarterbacks: you either have one, or you don’t. OK, so it’s not that simple; plenty of competitive NFL teams (see: Falcons, Giants, Jets) are finding surprise success in 2022 while keeping their signal-callers in the background. Generally speaking, however, the easiest path to contending for a championship is possessing one of the game’s elite players under center. And the quickest path to wallowing at the cellar of league standings — as teams like the Commanders and Panthers will attest — is betting on damaged goods at the same position.
There’s a long way to go before certain franchises make QB decisions for 2023, whereas others are already virtual locks to make big changes. Almost halfway through 2022, here’s a look at the 10 teams we view as most likely to make a significant move at QB following the season:
Geno Smith has been one of 2022’s top underdog stories to date, but we’ve got a long way to go before crowning him the surefire long-term successor to Russell Wilson. It’s possible, if not probable, they could end up paying him to stick around while also investing premium assets into his successor, a la the multiple-dart strategy that brought them Wilson the same year they spent big money on Matt Flynn. Either way, with two 2023 first-round draft picks and lots of cap space on deck, they’re better positioned than most to acquire a new face of the franchise, either through the draft or trade.
Jared Goff has played good soldier as a quiet leader of the never-quit Lions, but 2023 will be year three of the Dan Campbell regime, and Goff, though just newly 28, is due $31M next year — 11th among all QBs. With another top-five pick potentially on the way, Detroit almost can’t afford to ignore the possibility of adding competition under center. Trading Goff, or designating him a post-June 1 release, might be the best way of ripping off the Band-Aid, unless they’re that convinced they can make the defensive improvements to carry a Goff-led roster to their first playoff berth in over a half-decade.
The current front office does not appear overly invested in Justin Fields, or else they might’ve surrounded the 2021 first-rounder with a starting-caliber O-line and receiving corps. Amid the shaky supporting cast, Fields hasn’t given team brass an abundance of reasons to invest, either. On pace for a top-10 pick in 2023, the Bears are also set to lead the NFL in salary cap space…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBSSports.com Headlines…