From a marketing and storyline standpoint, the National Football League has historically been the one major sports league that has done almost everything well. For years, the only thing they did poorly was create an environment where marquee players — okay, QUARTERBACKS — became available in free agency or via trade every offseason.
Big time NBA players changed teams frequently. Same thing in Major League Baseball. However, the best of the best in the NFL rarely, if ever, would change teams. That is, until 2020. Since the offseason leading into the 2020 season, at least two, and sometimes more, former Pro Bowl quarterbacks changed teams (or in the case of this offseason, are possibly on the verge of changing teams).
The list looks like this:
2020: Tom Brady, Philip Rivers
2021: Carson Wentz, Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff
2022: Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan
2023: Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, Derek Carr
Admittedly, the Rodgers and Jackson sagas have yet to fully play out, but for focus of this post, DRAMA, I will include them in the conversation. So let’s power rank each of these QB journeys based on their “soap opera” qualities, shall we?
First, we aren’t even giving an honorable mention to the sagas of Russell Wilson, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, and Derek Carr. Those are all boring. Matt Ryan’s soap opera is nothing to write home about, but it is tied up in one of the ranked contender’s journeys below. Now, here are the top five:
5. MATTHEW STAFFORD and JARED GOFF
I’m putting these two together, because they were traded for each other. It’s basically like a “wife swap” storyline. I would say that, unlike a typical soap opera, where everyone will eventually wind up unhappy or fake dead, this trade has been good for both parties. Stafford won a Super Bowl in 2021, and Goff found the rejuvenation machine in 2022.
4. TOM BRADY
After two decades in New England, Brady left the northeast for Tampa Bay. Basically, he was the rich, old man leaving his wife of 50 years to go gallivanting around with a stripper from Tampa. Again, unlike an actual soap opera, where Brady would likely get shot by the stripper’s recently paroled father, Brady won a Super Bowl!
3. AARON RODGERS
After the previous two offseasons, where the payoff on Rodgers’ soap opera was a return to Green Bay, Rodgers is likely on his way to the New York Jets. This is like having your character get written off of “Days of Our Lives” and pop up on some crappy soap like “Generations” or “Passions.”
2. LAMAR JACKSON
Jackson’s soap opera storyline is still playing out, as he tries to find some team out there to give him the contract he wants. Basically, he is looking for Deshaun Watson’s $230 million guaranteed. In the process of trying to secure that kind of money, Jackson has cost himself tens of millions. This is like watching someone get duped in a Ponzi scheme, and the person duping him is himself. That said, the appearance of new character Odell Beckham, Jr. into this soap opera is intriguing!
1. DESHAUN WATSON
This is the runaway winner. Watson’s soap opera storylines have everything – NFL crime, sex, cheating, money, Rusty Hardin – it has it all! Also, Watson’s soap opera is so huge, it produced spinoffs! The stories of Ryan, Baker Mayfield, hell even Jack Easterby, are all tied into Deshaun Watson!
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
