Legendary QBs who changed teams late in their career

The predominant storyline of the offseason has finally resolved itself, as the Green Bay Packers have officially traded quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets. The transaction marks the end of Rodgers’ storied 18-year career as a Packer. We’ll take a look back at other prominent quarterbacks who left the only team they ever played for late in their football life.

After a marvelous run of success with the New England Patriots, Tom Brady decided to take his talents south in order to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He would win another Super Bowl in Tampa Bay, proving that his greatness extended far beyond the walls and infrastructure of the Patriots franchise.

To this day, there remains no more revered quarterback in Jets history than Joe Namath. This is in large part because he’s the only signal caller in the history of the franchise who won a Super Bowl. During the final season of his career in 1977, Namath spent one season playing for the Los Angeles Rams, where he would only start four games.

In the early days of the sport, the standard by which quarterbacks were measured was Johnny Unitas’ body of work. He won three MVP awards and garnered numerous other honors while with the Baltimore Colts. In 1973, Unitas headed west to play for the San Diego Chargers. He started five games in his only season in San Diego.

After a sensational run with the Indianapolis Colts, Peyton Manning’s career was in jeopardy after he suffered a debilitating neck injury. Many doubted whether he could return to the level he established. The second chapter of his career took place with the Denver Broncos, and Manning showed he could still lead a prolific offense.

We have seen this movie before when it comes to Hall of Fame quarterbacks leaving Green Bay for New York. The first player to do it was Brett Favre, who spent 16 years with the Packers before playing for the Jets. He would spend one campaign in New York, and played out the final two years of his career with the Minnesota Vikings.

The Los Angeles Chargers were committed to starting fresh at the quarterback position ahead of the 2020 season, which left 16-year veteran Philip Rivers free to choose his next team. During the 2020 season, Rivers would lead the Indianapolis Colts to an 11-5 record, and a postseason appearance. He threw 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in that campaign.

Watching Russell Wilson develop from a game manager to a star passer was certainly something to behold for fans of the Seattle Seahawks. However, most good things come to an end, and Wilson was traded by the organization to the Denver Broncos ahead of the 2022 season. Wilson’s first year in Denver did not go as planned, and he’s opening to bounce back in 2023.

Rightfully so, everyone associates Joe Montana with the San Francisco 49ers, but many people forget that he spent the final two years of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs went 17-8 in games he started in 1993 and 1994, which proved that Montana still had a little bit of gas left in the tank.

Randall Cunningham had an extremely successful 11-year run with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he threw 150 touchdown passes in an explosive offense. He briefly retired in 1996 at the age of 33, but was back in action a season later with the Minnesota Vikings. Cunningham orchestrated one of the most high-powered offenses in league history at age 35 in 1998.