2026 Positional Spending: Quarterbacks

By
Logan Ulrich
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To help pass the time from now until the start of training camp, we’ll be looking at where every team ranks in positional spending. First up, quarterbacks — the game’s most important position and usually one of the biggest chunks of any team’s budget, particularly considering only two to three players are rostered. 

Justin Herbert

One note: rather than count dead money toward the positional groups, we will have it ranked separately in a post of its own. For example, Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa‘s $55.4 million dead cap hit won’t count toward Miami’s quarterback spending, but it will be included in their league-leading $179 million dead cap figure. 

Here’s how the league’s quarterback rooms shake out from most expensive to least expensive: 

Resources:

1 – Los Angeles Rams: $51,358,451

  • Percentage of total cap: 17.05 percent*
  • 2025 rank: 2nd
  • Top cap hit: Matthew Stafford, $48,266,668
  • PFF grade: 92.0 (1st)
  • Depth chart: Stafford, Ty Simpson, Stetson Bennett
  • *Does not technically include Simpson yet because he hasn’t signed his rookie deal

2 – Los Angeles Chargers: $49,730,675

  • Percentage of total cap: 16.51 percent
  • 2025 rank: 10th
  • Top cap hit: Justin Herbert, $46,345,675 
  • PFF grade: 78.0 (11th)
  • Depth chart: Herbert, Trey Lance, D.J. Uiagalalei 

3 – Buffalo Bills: $47,278,000

4 – Dallas Cowboys: $47,083,430

  • Percentage of total cap: 15.63 percent
  • 2025 rank: 1st
  • Top cap hit: Dak Prescott, $43,508,430 
  • PFF grade: 86.9 (5th)
  • Depth chart: Prescott, Sam Howell, Joe Milton

5 – Cleveland Browns: $44,460,587

6 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $44,108,333

  • Percentage of total cap: 14.64 percent
  • 2025 rank: 15th
  • Top cap hit: Baker Mayfield, $39,975,000
  • PFF grade: 70.0 (25th)
  • Depth chart: Mayfield, Jake Browning, Conner Bazelak, Jalon Daniels 

7 – Cincinnati Bengals: $43,508,117

8 – Seattle Seahawks: $42,073,656

  • Percentage of total cap: 13.97 percent
  • 2025 rank: 22nd
  • Top cap hit: Sam Darnold, $37,900,000
  • PFF grade: 79.0 (9th)
  • Depth chart: Darnold, Drew Lock, Jalen Milroe

9 – Detroit Lions: $41,293,333

  • Percentage of total cap: 13.71 percent
  • 2025 rank: 12th
  • Top cap hit: Jared Goff, $37,600,000
  • PFF grade: 77.7 (12th)
  • Depth chart: Goff, Teddy Bridgewater, Luke Altmyer

10 – Green Bay Packers: $40,747,044

  • Percentage of total cap: 13.53 percent
  • 2025 rank: 13th
  • Top cap hit: Jordan Love, $36,122,437
  • PFF grade: 88.8 (4th)
  • Depth chart: Love, Tyrod Taylor, Kyron Drones, Kyle McCord

11 – Kansas City Chiefs: $39,574,010

12 – Baltimore Ravens: $39,455,000

13 – Philadelphia Eagles: $35,643,299

  • Percentage of total cap: 11.83 percent
  • 2025 rank: 17th
  • Top cap hit: Jalen Hurts, $31,971,800
  • PFF grade: 79.0 (9th)
  • Depth chart: Hurts, Andy Dalton, Tanner McKee, Cole Payton

14 – Indianapolis Colts: $32,135,093

15 – Pittsburgh Steelers: $29,074,525

  • Percentage of total cap: 9.65 percent
  • 2025 rank: 19th
  • Top cap hit: Aaron Rodgers, $22,500,000
  • PFF grade: 68.0 (27th)
  • Depth chart: Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, Drew Allar

16 – San Francisco 49ers: $28,763,089

  • Percentage of total cap: 9.55 percent
  • 2025 rank: 27th
  • Top cap hit: Brock Purdy, $23,709,530
  • PFF grade: 85.4 (6th)
  • Depth chart: Purdy, Mac Jones, Kurtis Rourke, Adrian Martinez

17 – Jacksonville Jaguars: $28,390,000

  • Percentage of total cap: 9.43 percent
  • 2025 rank: 18th
  • Top cap hit: Trevor Lawrence, $24,000,000
  • PFF grade: 83.7 (7th)
  • Depth chart: Lawrence, Nick Mullens, Bradley Carter, Joey Aguilar

18 – Houston Texans: $20,730,517

  • Percentage of total cap: 6.88 percent
  • 2025 rank: 23rd
  • Top cap hit: C.J. Stroud, $11,543,396
  • PFF grade: 65.0 (31st)
  • Depth chart: Stroud, Davis Mills, Graham Mertz

19 – Washington Commanders: $19,565,705

  • Percentage of total cap: 6.5 percent
  • 2025 rank: 20th
  • Top cap hit: Jayden Daniels, $10,294,541
  • PFF grade: 74.9 (18th)
  • Depth chart: Daniels, Marcus Mariota, Sam Hartman, Athan Kaliakmanis

20 – Tennessee Titans: $19,531,053

21 – Chicago Bears: $18,607,258

22 – Carolina Panthers: $18,039,948

  • Percentage of total cap: 5.99 percent
  • 2025 rank: 25th
  • Top cap hit: Bryce Young, $12,076,615
  • PFF grade: 71.0 (24th)
  • Depth chart: Young, Kenny Pickett, Will Grier, Haynes King

23 – Arizona Cardinals: $16,770,000

24 – Denver Broncos: $15,076,318

25 – New England Patriots: $12,464,970

  • Percentage of total cap: 4.14
  • 2025 rank: 29th
  • Top cap hit: Drake Maye, $9,992,663
  • PFF grade: 80.7 (8th)
  • Depth chart: Maye, Tommy DeVito, Behren Morton

26 – Minnesota Vikings: $11,318,732

27 – New York Giants: $10,083,623

28 – Atlanta Falcons: $9,420,719

29 – Miami Dolphins: $8,481,560

  • Percentage of total cap: 2.82 percent
  • 2025 rank: 9th
  • Top cap hit: Malik Willis, $5,672,000
  • PFF grade: NA
  • Depth chart: Willis, Quinn Ewers, Cam Miller, Mark Gronowski

30 – Las Vegas Raiders: $6,874,678

  • Percentage of total cap: 2.28
  • 2025 rank: 7th
  • Top cap hit: Kirk Cousins, $1,300,000*
  • PFF grade: 76.0 (16th, Cousins)
  • Depth chart: Cousins, Fernando Mendoza, Aidan O’Connell, Jacob Clark
  • *Does not include a $10.4 million cap hit for Fernando Mendoza because he has not technically signed his rookie deal yet. 

31 – New York Jets: $6,569,669

  • Percentage of total cap: 2.18
  • 2025 rank: 24th
  • Top cap hit: Geno Smith, $3,300,000
  • PFF grade: 60.9 (34th)
  • Depth chart: Smith, Cade Klubnik, Brady Cook, Bailey Zappe

32 – New Orleans Saints: $5,762,240

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