Quarterback. It’s the most important position in football. And, with the growing trend of superflex and two quarterback leagues in dynasty fantasy football leagues, it’s quickly become the most important position in fantasy football rankings as well. 

Free agency and the NFL draft can turn the values of a lot of players on their heads, but the quarterback position often gets it the worst. With wide receivers, running backs, and tight ends, you can always rotate but, outside of Taysom Hill, that’s rarely the case with QB. You are either the starter or you aren’t.

What we’re going to do here is take a look around the league and see who the 2024 NFL free agency winners and losers are so far at the quarterback position for fantasy football. Obviously, we’ll look at who is likely to win or lose starting jobs. 

But we’ll also look at incoming or outgoing weapons, improvements to the offensive line, and key coaching changes. Based on what we’re seeing so far, it might be time to either buy or sell some of these guys in your dynasty leagues.

 

 

 

NFL Free Agency Winners: Fantasy Football Quarterbacks

Gardner Minshew - Look, he still has a quarterback competition with Aiden O’Connell. And they could take a QB in the draft this April as well. But two years, $25 million with $15 million guaranteed gives him a MASSIVE leg up in that competition. Teams don’t like to waste money. And that contract means he’ll almost certainly get the first crack at the job. 

If he wins it, he gets to throw the ball to Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, and Michael Mayer now. This is a guy that could have ended up as a backup (like some of the guys in the Losers section below). Instead, he got paid solid money to likely start Week One. Good for him. And good for folks who held on in dynasty leagues. Minshew Mania lives on. 

Aaron Rodgers - Obviously the first and most important thing is that he comes back healthy here. But assuming he does, he’ll be returning to a team that looks better than it did last year. 

Not only did they bring in Mike Williams after being released by the Chargers, but they also convinced offensive tackle Tyron Smith to sign a “prove it” deal with only $6.5 million in guaranteed money (though, if he stays healthy and plays at the level we expect, it could be worth upwards of $20 million). Adding Williams, Smith, and guard John Simpson from the Ravens to go along with Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall should be a pretty formidable offense. 

 

 

 

Bryce Young - Will Bryce Young have a better year two? Hard to say. Trevor Lawrence had a rough year one then they fired the entire coaching staff and improved his weapons. The Panthers just fired the entire coaching staff and improved the weapons for Bryce Young by trading for Diontae Johnson from the Steelers. 

They also spent $150,000,000 on two starting guards in Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis. So, on paper, Bryce Young is a winner this offseason. And I think it could translate into a potential dynasty value increase in year two, especially in superflex leagues. 

Will Levis - If Bryce Young is a winner for those reasons, why wouldn’t Will Levis be a winner? They made a BIG splash on Calvin Ridley to put him alongside DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks. 

They lost Derrick Henry but quickly replaced him with Tony Pollard. And they beefed up the line giving Lloyd Cushenberry by far the biggest free agent contract of any available center at four years, $50 million. Whether Will Levis is the guy or not, they are building this team around him as if he is. And that’s good for his value.  

Jarrett Stidham/Sam Darnold/Drew Lock/Jacoby Brissett/Marcus Mariota - These guys can be lumped together because the sentiment is the same. We’ve seen guys like Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield claw their way out of the “backup QB” moniker. Now they are rich. All five of these guys listed here were stuck behind clear starters in 2023. Now they have a glimpse of competing for the starting job with Darnold in Minnesota, Drew Lock in New York, Jacoby Brissett in New England, and Marcus Mariota in Washington. 

Stidham by default gets a bump in short-term value with the Russell Wilson trade. There will be some competition they need to overcome, no doubt. Stiff competition depending how the draft shakes out. But, if I’m Marcus Mariota, I’d much rather go toe to toe with a rookie QB than be stuck behind Jalen Hurts. Now might be the time to trade these guys away in your dyno league if anyone is interested at all. Folks need starters in two QB and superflex, even if it’s short-term. 

NFL Free Agency Losers: Fantasy Football Quarterbacks

Justin Herbert - Whew lad. It was bad enough that they brought in head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman who are big “pound the rock” proponents. They WANT to slow the game down and play physically, not air it out. 

But then they also turned around and got rid of the top three target-getters from 2023 in Keenan Allen, Austin Ekeler, and Gerald Everett (as well as Mike Williams who would have probably been second on that list had he not torn up his knee). There’s simply no way to sell this as a positive for Justin Herbert statistically. 

Trevor Lawrence - Now, as a Jaguars fan, you can rationalize the idea of not wanting to pay that contract to Calvin Ridley. It might be better for the team as a whole in the long run. But in the fantasy football world, it’s pretty obvious that Gabe Davis is a downgrade from Ridley. 

And the Jaguars chose to invest more on the defensive side of the ball with Arik Armstead and Darnell Savage, so they didn’t make major upgrades on the offensive line either.  Mitch Morse at two years $10 million doesn’t exactly move the needle for fantasy football to offset losing a guy like Calvin Ridley.

 

 

 

Kyler Murray - The Cardinals could salvage this by taking a wide receiver in the first round of the NFL draft - it doesn’t have to be with the fourth pick but Marvin Harrison Jr at four would turn Murray into an offseason winner in my eyes. But, as of this moment, they let Marquise Brown leave and traded away Rondale Moore. Without adding anyone. That leaves the top options as Trey McBride, Michael Wilson, and Greg Dortch. 

So, for the time being Murray is behind. Now we really need them to go after one of these high end wide receiver prospects. And, even then, these guys can take some time to ramp up or even bust completely. The Tennessee Titans picked Corey Davis at five overall and, at the time, there we’re a lot of knocks on him as a prospect.

Dak Prescott - Jerry Jones told Cowboys fans that they would be going “all in” in free agency. Then they proceeded to lose Tyron Smith, Tyler Biadasz, Tony Pollard, and Michael Gallup without signing a single incoming free agent on offense. In fact, the only offensive player they did sign was backup running back Rico Dowdle to a one-year $1.255 million dollar deal to return. If Dak is going to get any help on offense, it’s likely coming via the draft. But free agency so far for him has been a bust. 

Justin Fields/Kenny Pickett/Mac Jones/Sam Howell/Desmond Ridder - Much like the last group of Winners above, these guys can be lumped together. We really don’t need to deep dive on why these guys were losers in the free agency period, but they have to be mentioned. All five players are now slated to be backups in 2024.