5 Backup QBs Who Could Become NFL Trade Targets in 2026
GOATIFYThe NFL's backup-quarterback market rarely looks important in early September. Then one starter gets hurt, one contender discovers its depth chart is thinner than expected, and suddenly a player who spent Week 1 holding a clipboard becomes one of the most valuable trade chips in the league.
That is why this year's quarterback depth charts deserve attention before the November 11 trade deadline. Several teams are carrying backups with starting experience, former first-round pedigrees or enough upside to interest a quarterback-needy club. The price for those players will depend on injuries, performance and how willing their current teams are to sacrifice insurance for future draft capital.
Five names stand out entering the 2026 season. None is guaranteed to move. In fact, some teams may decide the security of a capable backup is worth more than any reasonable offer. But if the quarterback market starts moving, these are the situations most likely to become relevant.
5. Mac Jones: San Francisco can demand a real return
Mac Jones has become exactly the kind of backup that can suddenly look extremely valuable in October. He is no longer being evaluated as the former New England first-round pick who was expected to become a franchise quarterback. In San Francisco, he has rebuilt his value as a veteran who can operate an established offense and give a contender credible starts if needed.
Jones started eight games in 2025 and completed 69.6 percent of his passes for 2,151 yards and 13 touchdowns. San Francisco went 5-3 in those starts. That matters because trade-deadline quarterback deals are rarely about theoretical upside alone. A team considering a midseason acquisition needs evidence that the player can step into an NFL offense, absorb a game plan quickly and keep the season alive.
The 49ers have little reason to shop Jones aggressively. Their own history with quarterback injuries makes quality depth especially important, and keeping a proven No. 2 behind the starter has obvious value. That gives San Francisco leverage. If another club loses its quarterback and calls, the 49ers can simply say no unless the offer compensates them for weakening one of the most important insurance policies on the roster.
That is also why Jones could command more than fans expect. A contender with a strong roster but a sudden quarterback problem would not be buying a long-term franchise answer. It would be buying competent starts, experience and a chance to protect a playoff season. Those short-term needs can create aggressive prices.
Jones is therefore less of a player San Francisco needs to move than a player another team may need badly enough to pry away. If the quarterback injury market gets ugly, his name should be near the top of the call list.
4. Spencer Rattler: New Orleans can wait for the market to come to it
Spencer Rattler enters the season in a different position. New Orleans has Tyler Shough at the top of the depth chart, and Rattler spent the summer competing with Zach Wilson for positioning behind him. That makes Rattler more expendable than some backups around the league, even if the Saints have no reason to rush into a deal.
Rattler completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 262 yards across three preseason games. Those numbers are not enough to establish him as a future starter, but they reinforce the idea that he can function in an NFL offense and still has developmental appeal.
The bigger attraction is his profile. Rattler is young enough that an acquiring team would not have to view him purely as an emergency rental. A club with uncertainty at quarterback could see him as both a short-term depth option and a player worth evaluating over a longer period.
New Orleans can afford to be patient because quarterback demand usually increases during the season. In September, most teams believe their plans are intact. By late October, injuries and poor performances can transform the market. A backup who would bring only a modest return now can become more valuable when a desperate team is trying to save its year.
That dynamic makes Rattler a logical name to monitor. If Shough settles into the starting role and New Orleans feels comfortable with the rest of its quarterback room, the Saints could turn surplus depth into an asset. If the market never develops, keeping him is hardly a problem.
The Saints do not need to manufacture a trade. They can wait for another team's urgency to create one.
3. Tanner McKee: Philadelphia has the deepest leverage
Tanner McKee may be the most interesting conventional trade chip on this list because Philadelphia's quarterback room gives the Eagles unusual flexibility.
Jalen Hurts is the unquestioned starter. The roster also includes veteran Andy Dalton and rookie Cole Payton. That is a lot of depth, and it creates a scenario in which Philadelphia could move McKee without leaving itself exposed in the same way another contender might be if it traded its clear No. 2.
McKee has appeared in six games and made two starts. His NFL sample remains limited, but teams have had time to evaluate him, and interest has reportedly existed before. Philadelphia received Day 2-level offers around the previous trade deadline, which is meaningful because it establishes that the league already sees him as more than an anonymous backup.
He is also entering the final year of his rookie contract. That creates the classic decision point. Philadelphia can keep a useful player for the season and risk losing him later for nothing more than whatever compensatory value might eventually develop, or it can capitalize on the market while he is still under team control.
The Eagles do not have to accept a weak return. Their depth allows them to wait, and McKee's previous interest gives them reason to believe the market can improve if quarterback injuries hit contenders.
For an acquiring team, McKee offers a relatively clean projection. He has spent his career in a winning organization, has experience preparing behind an established starter and has shown enough in limited action to suggest he could handle a larger role. He is not being sold as a guaranteed franchise quarterback. He is being sold as a player who may be able to keep an offense functional at a far lower acquisition cost than a proven starter.
That makes Philadelphia a team worth calling, but probably not one worth trying to lowball.
2. Dillon Gabriel: Cleveland has a crowded room and a rehabilitation project
Cleveland's quarterback room could become one of the strangest trade environments in the league. The Browns have multiple young options, and Dillon Gabriel's place in the hierarchy has become less secure after a difficult 2025 season and a back injury that placed him on injured reserve.
Gabriel went 1-5 in six starts last season while completing 59.5 percent of his passes for 937 yards and seven touchdowns. Those results do not create obvious trade value on their own. Any interested team would be betting on development, scheme fit and a fresh start rather than proven NFL production.
The Browns also have other young quarterbacks to evaluate. With the depth chart continuing to evolve, Gabriel can become expendable if Cleveland decides its developmental resources are better spent elsewhere.
His injury complicates the timing. A team is unlikely to pay meaningful value until it is comfortable with his health, and Cleveland would have little incentive to sell at the bottom of the market. That means Gabriel's trade case could depend on what happens later in the fall. If he returns, looks healthy in practice and another team loses a quarterback, the conversation changes.
The attraction is straightforward: he remains a young passer with college production and NFL starting experience. The downside is equally obvious: the professional results have not yet justified treating him as more than a developmental option.
That combination makes Gabriel more of a rehabilitation trade candidate than an immediate deadline prize. But quarterback scarcity can create markets for players who would otherwise stay put. If Cleveland's depth chart settles without him and another club believes it can unlock more, a deal becomes plausible.
1. J.J. McCarthy: Minnesota faces the biggest decision
J.J. McCarthy is the name that would create the most attention because the Vikings invested a first-round pick in him in 2024 and once viewed him as a potential long-term starter.
His path since then has been anything but simple. A torn meniscus erased his rookie season, and subsequent injuries and uneven preseason work complicated his development. Minnesota has now moved in another direction at the top of the quarterback depth chart, leaving McCarthy in a position few expected when he entered the league.
That does not mean the Vikings should give him away. McCarthy is still only 23, and the reasons he was drafted so highly have not disappeared. He has shown flashes of the arm talent, mobility and competitiveness that made him attractive coming out of Michigan. A first-round quarterback does not lose all developmental value simply because his first two seasons were disrupted.
But the roster situation matters. If Minnesota no longer sees McCarthy as its future starter, keeping him indefinitely can become less useful than converting his remaining value into draft capital. The Vikings have to weigh patience against opportunity cost.
McCarthy would also appeal to a different type of buyer than Jones or McKee. A contender seeking emergency competence might prefer a veteran with more NFL reps. A team with a longer horizon could view McCarthy as a reclamation project with significantly more upside.
That creates a potentially broader market. A quarterback-needy team could acquire him without pretending he must immediately save the season. It could give him time, reset his development and see whether a change of environment unlocks the player Minnesota originally believed it was drafting.
The difficult part is price. The Vikings are unlikely to want a return that makes the original investment look wasted, while other teams will point to the injuries and limited professional résumé as reasons to discount him. That gap can prevent trades even when both sides have logical reasons to consider one.
Still, among all the backup quarterbacks who could surface in trade conversations, McCarthy has the combination of pedigree, age and uncertainty most likely to generate league-wide interest.
A trade involving a backup quarterback is also different from most deadline deals because the acquiring team is not simply buying talent. It is buying a compressed learning curve. The quarterback has to absorb terminology, protection calls, route adjustments and the preferences of a new coaching staff quickly enough to matter before the season is over. That makes experience and football intelligence especially valuable, and it can explain why teams sometimes pay more for a dependable No. 2 than his raw statistics would suggest.
Contract structure matters too. A player on an affordable deal can be easier to fit under the cap than an established veteran starter, while a young quarterback with additional team control can appeal to rebuilding teams as well as contenders. The market therefore is not limited to clubs that lose a starter. A team disappointed with its current quarterback room could also make a move with 2027 in mind.
There is another reason these names matter now: sellers have to protect themselves. The 49ers, Eagles, Saints, Browns and Vikings all know that moving a quarterback can look smart on Wednesday and disastrous on Sunday if their own starter gets hurt. That is why the price has to include the cost of surrendering insurance. A third-round pick, for example, may look attractive in a vacuum but less so if the team believes its backup could be the difference between making and missing the playoffs.
Those competing incentives are what make the next two months interesting. Most of these players will probably remain where they are. But the quarterback market does not require five trades to become important. It only takes one desperate team, one available player and one front office willing to value the current season more than a future draft pick.
The broader lesson is that the quarterback trade market can change in a single Sunday. Teams that currently feel comfortable with their depth may be making calls by October, and clubs with multiple playable quarterbacks will suddenly control valuable leverage.
San Francisco can demand a premium for Mac Jones because it does not need to move him. New Orleans can wait for Spencer Rattler's market to develop. Philadelphia has enough depth to entertain strong Tanner McKee offers. Cleveland can reassess Dillon Gabriel once he is healthy. Minnesota faces the most consequential choice with J.J. McCarthy because his upside and original draft investment remain much larger than those of a typical backup.
The deadline is still weeks away, but the list of available quarterbacks is rarely static. One injury can turn a quiet depth chart into the center of the league's trade market.
