Perhaps the most storied rankings of any list that fans and media pundits could come up with are the top 10 quarterbacks in NFL history.
After all, quarterback is the most scrutinized position in sports and football is the most popular sport in America, so there is a special lore that comes with being an NFL signal-caller.
There have been many great quarterbacks who have blessed the gridiron over the years, but who are the best of the best?
Here is the latest list of the top 10 quarterbacks to ever pick up the pigskin.
10. Patrick Mahomes
Is it too early to place Patrick Mahomes on this list? Probably. Am I jumping to conclusions? Maybe. Do I care? Not really.
The fact of the matter is that Mahomes has already done more than many of the other signal-callers who could qualify for this spot, as he has won a pair of Super Bowls, earned a couple of First-Team All-Pro selections and is in the middle of five straight Pro Bowl appearances (barring injury, he will surely make many more).
The only thing that can really prevent Mahomes from further ascending on this list is injuries. That’s it. He is in the process of turning the Kansas City Chiefs into a dynasty, and last season, he led the team to a championship in spite of no longer having Tyreek Hill.
Mahomes has thrown 203 touchdowns and just 54 interceptions thus far in his career and has led the league in passing touchdowns twice since becoming a full-time starter in 2018. He threw 50 touchdowns that season and reached 41 scores a year ago.
The 28-year-old owns a career passer rating of 105, which is the best of any player in league history.
When it’s all said and done, Mahomes could very well end up being a top five quarterback to ever step on the gridiron.
9. Terry Bradshaw
Terry Bradshaw is one of the strangest quarterbacks in NFL history.
His overall body of work during the regular season is average, at best. He posted a lifetime passer rating of 70.9 (which is actually pretty poor regardless of era), and he threw nearly as many interceptions (210) as touchdowns (212). Yes, he led the league in touchdowns twice, but he made just three Pro Bowl appearances and earned one First-Team All-Pro selection in his career.
So why is Bradshaw on this list?
The answer: four Super Bowl titles.
There is no doubt that Bradshaw elevated his game when it mattered most, making some of the biggest plays in NFL postseason history. In three of his four Super Bowl runs with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bradshaw registered playoff passer ratings of 94.9, 104.1 and 98.5.
Only one man has won more championships than Bradshaw: Tom Brady. So regardless of how you feel about Bradshaw’s regular-season numbers, his playoff resume speaks for itself.
8. Aaron Rodgers
What makes Aaron Rodgers so incredible is his unbelievable ball security.
Throughout Rodgers’ 19-year NFL career, he has only reached double-digit interceptions three times, and one of those times came during his first season as a full-time starter in Green Bay.
Of course, there is more to Rodgers than just his ability to take care of the football.
Rodgers owns a lifetime passer rating of 103.6, which puts him second behind Patrick Mahomes (105) all time. In addition, Rodgers has led the NFL in passing touchdowns twice, most recently doing so in 2020 when he racked up 48 touchdown tosses.
The 39-year-old has won four MVP awards, doing so in back-to-back years in 2020 and 2021. He has also made 10 Pro Bowl appearances while also earning First-Team All-Pro honors four times.
Most importantly, Rodgers led the Packers to a Super Bowl title during the 2010-11 campaign and was named Super Bowl MVP.
After spending 18 seasons in Green Bay, Rodgers joined the New York Jets for the 2023 season, but he ultimately tore his Achilles on the Jets’ first offensive drive of the year.
He will almost surely be back under center for New York in 2024.
Finally, it’s imperative to note Rodgers’ remarkable longevity, as he remains elite two decades into his career.
7. Dan Marino
Dan Marino’s career sort of paralleled Peyton Manning’s, although Marino ended up not winning any Super Bowls at all throughout his 17-year NFL tenure.
Marino spent all 17 of his seasons with the Miami Dolphins, leading the league in passing yards five times and passing touchdowns thrice.
Between 1984 and 1986, Marino notched First-Team All-Pro honors three straight times and paced the NFL in both yards and touchdowns all three years. As a matter of fact, Marino threw for over 5,000 yards in 1984, making him the first player in league history to do so at that time. He also won an MVP award.
Like Manning, Marino was a ridiculously effective pure passer, and also like Manning, he had his fair share of playoff shortcomings.
In 18 career playoff games, Marino threw 32 touchdowns and 24 interceptions and owned a lifetime postseason passer rating of just 77.1. Sometimes, the “choker” narrative is overused, but the evidence is there to state that Marino may have had a case of the yips come playoff time.
Still, there is no denying that Marino is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever step on the field.
6. Brett Favre
Brett Favre is a weird one. Some people have him near their top five, some have him just outside the top 10, and some barely have him cracking the top 15 (if at all).
Personally, I can’t place Favre any lower on this list.
Peak Favre was one of the most dominant forces the NFL has seen. From 1995 through 1997, Favre earned three straight MVP awards, three consecutive First-Team All-Pro selections and led the league in passing touchdowns every year. He logged 38, 39 and 35 touchdowns, respectively, during that three-year stretch in an era where guys simply were not posting those types of stats.
For comparison’s sake, Patrick Mahomes registered 38, 37 and 41 touchdown passes between 2020 and 2022 during a time where the passing game is much more fleshed out and much more utilized.
So imagine what a prime Favre could do in today’s NFL?
The main thing holding Favre back was his penchant for throwing interceptions. He led the league in picks three times and totaled 336 interceptions throughout his 20-year professional career.
Why? Because Favre had a habit of trusting his legendary cannon of an arm a bit too much and would frequently tempt fate by treating to squeeze footballs into places where multiple defenders were around. And you know what? Many times, it worked.
Favre won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers during the 1996-97 campaign and made 11 trips to the Pro Bowl.
It should also be noted that Favre made 297 consecutive starts. He was an ironman of all ironmen.
5. Drew Brees
From a numbers perspective, it’s hard to concoct an argument against Drew Brees.
Brees led the NFL in passing yards a hefty seven times in his 20-year NFL career. Four times, he threw for over 5,000 yards in spite of not exactly having a cannon for an arm.
Additionally, Brees paced the league in completion percentage six times, completing over 70 percent of his throws five times. In 2018 and 2019, he registered completion percentages of over 74 percent both times.
Not only that, but Brees also finished tops in football in passing touchdowns four times, finishing with over 40 touchdown tosses twice (he topped out at 46 in 2011).
Brees led the New Orleans Saints to one Super Bowl, taking home the crown during the 2009-10 campaign. Yes, there were plenty of playoff disappointments for Brees and the Saints, but he still won the big game once.
Although Brees never won an MVP award, he made 13 trips to the Pro Bowl and earned a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2006.
Despite all of those accomplishments, perhaps the most interesting part of Brees’ career was that he was such a late bloomer. He spent the first five seasons of his NFL tenure with the Chargers and was remarkably inconsistent during his time there. It wasn’t until he got to New Orleans in 2006 that Brees truly broke out.
4. Johnny Unitas
Johnny Unitas is one of those guys who most NFL fans today never got to see. At least not at his peak.
He played from 1956 through 1973, winning four championships as member of the Baltimore Colts (he also spent one season with the San Diego Chargers to end his career).
Unitas racked up 10 consecutive Pro Bowl appearances between 1958 and 1967, earning four First-Team All-Pro selections in the process. He also led the league in passing touchdowns four years in a row from 1957 through 1960.
The University of Louisville product collected three MVP awards and led the NFL in passing yards four times and passer rating three times.
For the old-timers that did get to see Unitas, some of them will still swear that he was the greatest quarterback who ever played the game.
3. Peyton Manning
I’m not sure there was a greater pure passer than Peyton Manning.
Manning was like a video game character for much of his career, as he led the NFL in passing touchdowns four times and still holds the single-season record for 55 touchdown tosses, which he recorded in 2013 during his first year with the Denver Broncos.
Of course, the knock against Manning is his lack of overall playoff success.
While Manning won two Super Bowls, his second championship was more of a result of the Broncos’ outstanding defense than anything Manning did. As a matter of fact, Manning was benched in favor of Brock Osweiler midway through that 2015-16 campaign.
It’s that lack of hardware that ultimately keeps Manning’s name out of the same category of guys like Brady and Montana, especially when you consider that Manning threw a hefty 25 interceptions in 27 playoff games (and many of those picks came at crucial moments).
Still, there is no denying the passing prowess of Manning, who set an NFL record by earning five regular-season MVP awards. He also led the league in passing yards and passer rating three times each throughout a storied career between the Indianapolis Colts and Denver.
2. Joe Montana
If Brady is the consensus No. 1, then Joe Montana is the consensus No. 2.
Montana racked up four Super Bowl titles during his 16-year playing career, with all four championships coming with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Notre Dame product won three Super Bowl MVPs, two regular-season MVPs and made eight Pro Bowls. Plus, he notched First-Team All-Pro honors twice.
Montana does not have the overall gaudy numbers of Brady, but it’s important to note that he played in an entirely different era. He still managed to lead the NFL in passing touchdowns and passer rating twice and registered an impressive lifetime passer rating of 92.3.
Montana was also incredibly accurate, pacing the league in completion percentage five times.
1. Tom Brady
I’m not sure there is a larger consensus No. 1 overall for any list in sports than there is for Tom Brady at quarterback.
At this point, can you really make an argument against him?
Brady collected seven Super Bowl titles throughout his illustrious NFL tenure, by far the most of any other signal-caller (no one else has more than four). And for those who thought Bill Belichick was the mastermind behind Brady’s first six championships in New England, look at what happened after Brady left the Patriots in March 2020. Brady went on to win a Super Bowl in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Pats have still not recovered. As a matter of fact, Belichick may very well be on the hot seat in Foxborough thanks to his team’s 1-5 start in 2023.
Brady not only won seven championships, but he nailed down five Super Bowl MVP awards and won three regular season MVPs. He also made 15 Pro Bowl appearances and earned three First-Team All-Pro selections.
Not only that, but Brady played at an elite level until he finally retired from football at 45.
Brady is the best quarterback of all-time, and there really isn’t much of a debate.
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