Every NFL player is under immense pressure to perform. Almost all operate on a year-to-year basis, even when they have multi-year contracts.
But the 2026 season is an especially important year for young quarterbacks looking to prove themselves as franchise leaders, and for veterans looking to keep their spot for another season. Let’s look at those who are off to a good start, and those who are struggling:
Good starts
⋅ C.J. Stroud: He looked broken in last year’s playoff loss to the Patriots, with four interceptions. The Texans triggered Stroud’s fifth-year option for 2027, but 2026 is make or break for his long-term place in Houston.
He has responded with nine touchdown passes and just one interception for a 100.9 passer rating. The Texans are just 2-4, but they have won two straight, and now get a soft stretch with the Giants, Chargers, Browns, and Colts. If Stroud keeps it up, he should be in line for a big contract next offseason, and offensive coordinator Nick Caley might get looks for head coaching jobs.
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⋅ Bryce Young: This is a critical year for the other quarterback from the top of the 2023 draft, and it looks as if Young has played his way into the Panthers’ future. Young had never averaged even 200 yards per game in his first three seasons, yet now leads the NFL at 309, with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions for the 3-2 Panthers.
⋅ Drake Maye: Three weeks ago, Maye would have appeared on the other list. But he has regained his MVP-finalist form, throwing 12 touchdowns against two picks as the Patriots went 3-1 and became AFC contenders again.
The way he’s playing, Maye should have every reason to negotiate for a record-breaking contract next offseason of at least $65 million per season. Maye becoming the Patriots’ union rep this year and taking an interest in the NFL Players Association makes him not seem like someone willing to take one of the Krafts’ hometown discounts.
⋅ Caleb Williams: Williams’s completion percentage has jumped from 58 percent to 71 percent, he has thrown only one interception in 124 pass attempts, and he was sixth in the NFL in passer rating (105.6) after his Bears beat the Patriots. Williams still has plenty to prove in the postseason, but Chicago has its quarterback for the next few years. It will be interesting to see if Williams or Maye gets a bigger contract this offseason.
Related: We’ve been debating Drake Maye vs. Caleb Williams for years, and we won’t be stopping anytime soon
Bad starts
⋅ Bo Nix: The sixth quarterback taken in the 2024 first round, Nix was great as a rookie, his stats trended downward in 2025, and 2026 has been a disaster. Though the Broncos are 4-2, their offense is 26th in points per game, and Nix looks broken, completing 60 percent of passes and averaging 5.6 yards per attempt.
The Broncos have a decision this offseason on Nix’s fifth-year option, which would be a fully guaranteed salary of about $30 million in 2028. If Nix doesn’t improve, Sean Payton does not seem like the kind who is willing to be patient with a young quarterback.
⋅ Jayden Daniels: He played like a superstar as a rookie in 2024 and looked like the future face of the league. But Daniels is just 2-8-1 since then, and his reputation is cratering. He can’t seem to stay healthy, and he has shown a shocking lack of situational awareness the last two weeks that contributed to losses.
The Commanders will surely trigger Daniels’s fifth-year option of around $43 million because they have been desperate for a quarterback for decades. But they would be smart to make him play out another year before deciding on a long-term contract.
⋅ Jalen Hurts: Obviously, Hurts’s health is the top priority, and here’s hoping he can recover from his blood clot condition. But Hurts was awful in his five games, completing less than 58 percent of passes and averaging 187 yards. The Eagles notably didn’t extend Hurts’s contract after he won the Super Bowl in 2025, or last offseason. He may have played his last down in Philadelphia, as the Eagles only owe him $22 million guaranteed next year, an amount that isn’t prohibitive in today’s NFL.
⋅ Cam Ward: Ward still has one more year on his rookie contract before the Titans need to make any decisions. But his sophomore year has been as bad as the first, with Ward ranking 29th with a 75.0 passer rating and the Titans 32nd in total offense. If he can’t turn it around, don’t be surprised if Tennessee looks for a veteran QB next year to push Ward or even replace him.
⋅ Tua Tagovailoa: After being dumped by the Dolphins, Tagovailoa had a golden opportunity to revive his career. But he bombed in the preseason, tweaked his back again, and lost his job to Michael Penix before Week 1. Now the Falcons have signed Andy Dalton, meaning Tagovailoa is likely done in Atlanta, and may have a tough time finding a team next year.
⋅ Malik Willis: It’s probably not fair to judge him since the 0-5 Dolphins have the worst talent in the NFL. But this is Willis’s big chance to prove himself, and he’s completing just 56 percent of passes and ranks 32nd with a 68.4 passer rating. The Dolphins owe Willis $22.5 million guaranteed next year, but a rookie quarterback is obviously coming.
⋅ Kyler Murray: The team is doing just fine, staked to a 5-0 record thanks to the league’s stingiest defense. But Murray is only a passenger, throwing two touchdown passes in five games and averaging 166 passing yards. Murray is a decent one-year fill-in, but the Vikings’ 22nd-ranked scoring offense is an issue, and they will probably be looking for a new QB again next offseason.
CRY FOR HELP
Saleh stands with Elliott after release
I don’t know if Robert Saleh is a great football coach, but I do know that he showed tremendous leadership and perspective last week in a difficult circumstance.
The Titans released seven-year defensive tackle Jordan Elliott on Tuesday, five days after Elliott got kicked out of practice and pulled a gun in the Titans’ parking lot after getting in a fight with offensive tackle JC Latham. Defensive end John Franklin-Myers defused the situation in the parking lot.
Elliott didn’t have any previous beef with Latham, but something caused him to snap. Saleh was adamant that Elliott deserved sympathy, not scorn.
“Why would a great man, a great father, a man who shows up on time every day, works his ass off every day, contributes the way he’s supposed to contribute, is well liked in the locker room, why did he go off the rails and grab a gun?” Saleh said Wednesday. “Those are small signs of a cry of help, in terms of obviously there’s something greater happening. And I thought the team and the NFL did an outstanding job with regards to pausing and asking those questions and checking every single box with regards to getting him the help that he needs.”
At least three former NFL players died by suicide in 2026 — Rondale Moore, Alphonso Smith Jr., and Jordan Devey. Underneath those helmets, players are under a lot of pressure to perform and provide for their families.
“They may have been crying for help, and everyone ignored it,” Saleh said. “I’m not saying that’s where [Elliott] was, I’m not going to speak on that, but these kids go through a lot. . . . The NFL and the organization did an outstanding job getting him with the clinicians that he needed to speak to, to help him in that moment.”
NFL rules required the Titans to release Elliott for having a firearm on team property, but Saleh hopes Elliott can find another spot.
“My message to 31 other teams would be if you need a hell of a run-stopping D tackle that can help you on a playoff run, give me a call,” Saleh said. “He’s a good man, had a terrible lapse in judgment that I recognize as a call for help more than a criminal act. . . . The man deserves another chance. Unfortunately, rules are rules and that can’t be here. But he’s a good man, he’s not a problem, and he should be on an NFL roster.”
ETC.
Back and forth on injury prevention
The NFL has implemented new rules governing training camp practices to prevent injuries — strict guidelines on how often teams can practice and can wear full pads. In that light, the league considers the rules a success; NFL spokesman Jeff Miller said the rate of lower-extremity injuries such as ACL tears and ankle sprains in training camp practices have decreased significantly. The injury rate in joint practices also is “much lower” than it is in preseason games, “and that seems to be a really good way to get players ready for the regular season.”
But not everyone in the NFL agrees with that last point. NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent said that about 40 percent of NFL starters didn’t play a snap in the preseason — the Patriots were one of many teams to sit their starters for all three games — and he believes it led to an increase in penalties and sloppy play over the first month of the season. The 1,398 penalties called through Week 6 are the second most in NFL history.
“We do see a little bit of the inconsistencies, higher foul counts, those first 3-4 weeks,” Vincent said Wednesday at the NFL owners meeting in New York. “Coach [Don] Shula always talked about developing the callus. I truly believe to be a good tackler, you have to tackle, and not just at practice.”
Related: Matt Light points to rule change during his career on why injuries have skyrocketed
A few other notes from the owners meetings:
⋅ The NFL is proceeding with Sunday’s Saints-Steelers game in Paris despite the wave of protests taking over the city. But NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly said the game will have a “heightened” security presence, and an event at the Steelers Fan House was canceled.
⋅ Get ready for more international games. This year has nine on the schedule, but the collective bargaining agreement allows for 10, and the NFL will try to get there next year, O’Reilly said.
⋅ Roger Goodell considers the Week 1 game in Australia a “tremendous success on really every level.”
“To get 100,000 people on a Friday morning at 10:30 is pretty remarkable,” he said of the crowd at Melbourne Cricket Ground. “I’ve never seen a region or a country that has more passion for sports.”
⋅ Mike Vrabel, Aaron Glenn, and Nick Sirianni were fined $250,000 each by the NFL recently for conduct toward officials, but the fines are on hold and can be rescinded with good behavior, so it’s more like a warning.
⋅ The owners approved a sale of 7.5 percent of the Falcons to private equity firm Arctos, with the firm committed to a future purchase of an additional 2.5 percent pending another approval vote. The total sale will raise about $1 billion in cash for Arthur Blank. Arctos now owns stakes in the Falcons, Browns, Chargers, and Bills.
Brian Hoyer, shown during the 2016 preseason, had 1,318 yards passing and six touchdowns over four games midseason.
Brian Hoyer, shown during the 2016 preseason, had 1,318 yards passing and six touchdowns over four games midseason. Elise Amendola/Associated Press
Hoyer’s place
In studying up for Thursday’s Bears-Patriots game, I did a double-take after coming across this fact from Next Gen Stats: “Williams had his fifth career game with at least 300 passing yards and no interceptions in the Bears’ Week 6 victory at the Falcons, breaking a tie with Brian Hoyer for the most such games in Bears franchise history.”
Hoyer had a great stretch in 2016, throwing for 300 yards and no picks in four straight games before an injury ended his season. But it is mind-blowing that the Bears have existed for 107 years, and until last week, a quarterback who only played six games for the franchise held that record. I knew the Bears had been bad at quarterback, but sheesh.
“If only Clay Matthews hadn’t shattered my forearm on Thursday night in Lambeau,” Hoyer said on X.
Jalen Hurts
The Hurts situation is complicated, and I don’t think it’s fair to criticize the medical care for his blood clot issue without knowing all of the facts. Team Hurts, for what it’s worth, cooperated with the Eagles on a joint statement last week.
“Sometimes in medicine, we do all the right things and diseases progress and other things develop,” said Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer. “They acted at every moment with the patient’s best interest at heart.”
But the lack of transparency from the Eagles is a red flag. They have not made their medical staff or general manager Howie Roseman available to discuss what happened, and seem to be hiding behind Sills and the league office. Sending Sirianni to the podium to face those questions was totally inappropriate.
The NFL Players Association is right to request a full investigation. Even if everything was handled appropriately, the Eagles are acting like they have something to hide.
Cornell Green's career as a defensive back for the Cowboys included getting after 49ers quarterback John Brodie in the NFC Championship game in January 1971.
Cornell Green's career as a defensive back for the Cowboys included getting after 49ers quarterback John Brodie in the NFC Championship game in January 1971.
Extra points
Rest in peace Cornell Green, the former Cowboys defensive back and longtime NFL scout who died Wednesday at 86. A four-time All-Pro who never missed a game over 13 seasons, Green was a big deal because he played college basketball, not football, at Utah State, and remains the Aggies’ all-time rebounding leader. Green was a fifth-round pick of the NBA’s Chicago Zephyrs, but the Cowboys’ Gil Brandt convinced him to try out for football, where he made an instant impact. Green was the younger brother of Pumpsie Green, the first Black player in Red Sox history … Maye is good at minimizing the damage when he takes a sack. His 13 sacks this season have lost 59 yards, for an average of 4.54 that ranks second fewest among 33 qualifying quarterbacks (Jameis Winston, 4.53). League average is 6.44 yards lost per sack, and Lamar Jackson leads the NFL at 9.14 … The Bills had not one, but two players suspended last week for spitting against the Raiders (C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Sam Franklin Jr.). New coach Joe Brady was hired to be the opposite of Sean McDermott, but he needs to instill a little discipline … The 0-5 Dolphins, who haven’t led for a single second this season, are raising all season ticket prices by at least three percent for next year, according to the Miami Herald . . . The Jaguars are 0-6 on coin tosses … The Jets’ 2026 draft class is boomin’. All three first-round picks from April have recently won NFL Rookie of the Week — tight end Kenyon Sadiq (Week 3), edge rusher David Bailey (Week 5), and receiver Omar Cooper (Week 6), who had six catches for 103 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots … The decision to turn the NFL Draft into a traveling road show in 2015 has been a smashing success, but it was one the NFL stumbled upon accidentally because Radio City Music Hall was booked for the Rockettes. “I still tease Jimmy Dolan every time,” Goodell told the Rushmore Podcast last week. “Best thing he ever did to us. Kicked us out.”