Who Is the All Time Passing Leader in the NFL?

The all-time passing leader in the NFL is Peyton Manning. He has thrown for 71,940 yards and 539 touchdowns in his career.

NFL History

Drew Brees is the all time passing leader in the NFL. He has played in the NFL for 18 seasons, all with the New Orleans Saints. In that time, he has amassed 80,358 passing yards, 713 passing touchdowns, and a 97.7 passer rating.

Founded in 1920

The National Football League (NFL) was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season; the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance (67,591) of any professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States.

Merger with AFL in 1970

In 1970, the NFL completed its merger with the American Football League (AFL), effective for the 1970 season. As part of the merger agreement, all NFL teams were required to schedule games against all AFL teams each season. This scheduling requirement remained in place until the 2002 season when all but one team (the Houston Texans, who began play in 2002 as an expansion team) played and won at least one game against each member of the AFC South.[1][2]

The NFL began using a 16-game regular season schedule in 1978. Prior to 1978, most NFL seasons consisted of 14 regular season games. The 1978 season was also the first year that the league implemented a 4-team playoff system to determine its champion.[3]

In 1993, the league expanded from 28 to 30 teams with the addition of the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars.[4] Prior to this expansion, there had not been an even number of teams in the league since 1966 when the Atlanta Falcons joined as an expansion team (giving the NFL an odd number of teams for 25 seasons). The most recent expansion occurred in 2002 when the Houston Texans joined as an expansion team, giving the NFL an even number of teams for 16 seasons.

All Time Passing Leaders

Tom Brady is the all time passing leader in the NFL. He has thrown for a total of 79,204 yards in his career. Brady has played in 283 games and has started 252 of them. He has a career quarterback rating of 97.6.

Brett Favre

Brett Favre is a former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. He was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection and led his team to victory in Super Bowl XXXI after the 1996 season.

Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning is a retired American football quarterback who played 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He is a two-time Super Bowl champion, and was the most valuable player of both Super Bowl XLI and Super Bowl 50.1
During his time with the Indianapolis Colts, Manning helped the team make eleven playoff appearances, won five AFC Championships, and won Super Bowl XLI. He also holds numerous NFL records, including touchdown passes (539), AP MVP awards (5), Pro Bowl appearances (14), and 4,000-yard passing seasons (14).2
Retiring as the all-time leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns, he was the second player after Brett Favre to reach 200 career touchdown passes.3 Manning was also selected to 14 Pro Bowls, tied for the most in NFL history.

Drew Brees

Drew Brees is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He holds the NFL records for most career passing yards, most single-season passing yards, and most career passing touchdowns. He also has the second highest single-season completion percentage in NFL history. Brees started his NFL career with the San Diego Chargers in 2001.

NFL Records

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league. The all-time passing yards leader is Brett Favre who has thrown for 71,838 yards in his career.

Most Passing Yards in a Season

In the National Football League (NFL), the record for the most passing yards in a season is 5,477, set by Peyton Manning in 2013. Manning, who played for the Denver Broncos, completed 450 of his 659 attempted passes that year for a 68.3% completion rate. He also threw an NFL-record 55 touchdown passes that season.

Most Passing TDs in a Season

Peyton Manning holds the NFL record for the most passing touchdowns in a season with 55, which he achieved during the 2013 season. Manning also holds the second-place spot with 52 passing touchdowns, which he threw during the 2014 season.

Most Passing Yards in a Career

Peyton Manning holds the NFL record for the most passing yards in a career, with 71,940. Manning played in the NFL for 18 seasons, 15 of them with the Indianapolis Colts and his final three with the Denver Broncos. He retired after winning Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos in 2016.

Active NFL Players

The all time passing leader in the NFL is currently Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints. He has played in the NFL for 18 seasons and has thrown for a total of 70,445 yards. That is an average of 3,913 yards per season. He is also the all time leader in touchdown passes with 541.

Tom Brady

Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977), nicknamed “Tom Terrific” and “The GOAT”, is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, where he was a key player during the team’s dynasty in the early 2000s that resulted in six Super Bowl wins.

After being drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, Brady became the Patriots’ starting quarterback in his second season after a week 2 injury to Drew Bledsoe. Due to his late draft selection, Brady is considered the biggest “steal” in NFL Draft history, and has been ranked among the greatest quarterbacks of all time. He led them to an NFL-record 27–10 victory over the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, which was New England’s first Super Bowl championship.

Philip Rivers

Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina State University. He was drafted fourth overall in the 2004 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, but was traded as part of a draft day deal that sent him to the San Diego Chargers.

Rivers has been selected to eight Pro Bowls, and was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2013. He is also one former NFL leader in consecutive starts by a quarterback and consecutive games with a touchdown pass. Rivers led the Chargers to six division titles, four AFC Championship appearances, and one appearance in Super Bowl XLIV. He owns several passing records for the Chargers franchise, including career passing yards (56,194), touchdowns (358), passer rating (95.1), completions (4,781), attempts (7,591), and 300-yard passing games (50).

Eli Manning

As of 2019, Eli Manning is the all time passing leader in the NFL. He has played for 16 seasons and has thrown for over 57,000 yards. He is a two time Super Bowl MVP and was the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.