Who’s the Best Quarterback in the NFL of All Time?

We’re taking a look at the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history and trying to answer the question: who’s the best of all time? We’ll consider their stats, their impact on the game, and their overall legacy.

Tom Brady

Tom Brady is the best quarterback in NFL history. He has played in 10 Super Bowls, winning seven of them. He has also been named the Super Bowl MVP four times. Brady has been selected to 14 Pro Bowls and has been named First-Team All-Pro 12 times.

His stats

In his first eight seasons as a starter, Brady averaged 3,611 passing yards, 26 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions per season. In terms of passer rating, those numbers are comparable to those of Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers over the same period. Since 2010, Brady has averaged 4,233 passing yards and 31 touchdown passes per season. Brady’s career passer rating is 97.2.

His accomplishments

Tom Brady has accomplished a lot in his career, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He has been to 10 Super Bowls, winning 7 of them. He is the only player to win 5 Super Bowl MVPs. He has also been named the NFL MVP 3 times. In 2007, he set the record for most touchdown passes in a season with 50.

Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning is a retired American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. He is considered to be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

His stats

In his 18 seasons in the NFL, Peyton Manning played for only two teams, the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos. He holds many NFL records, including most career passing yards (71,940), most career touchdown passes (539), most career completions (6,125), and most career Pro Bowl selections (14). He is also the only quarterback to have won the Super Bowl MVP Award multiple times.

His accomplishments

In his 18 seasons as a NFL quarterback, Peyton Manning holds numerous records:
-Most passing yards in a season: 5,477 (2013)
-Most passing touchdowns in a season: 55 (2013)
-Most career passing yards: 71,940
-Most career touchdown passes: 539
-Most career passing completions: 6,125
-Most career 300-yard passing games: 93
-Most consecutive seasons with 4,000+ passing yards: 14 (1998–2011)

Drew Brees

When it comes to the greatest quarterbacks of all time, the conversation always starts with Drew Brees. Brees has been at the top of his game for nearly two decades, and shows no signs of slowing down. He holds nearly every significant passing record, and his accomplishments continue to stack up. Let’s take a look at why Drew Brees is the best quarterback in NFL history.

His stats

Brees is the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards (74,437) and touchdowns (520), completing 68.3 percent of his passes for an average of 7.6 yards per attempt. He’s one of only five quarterbacks to average at least 7.5 yards per attempt for his career, joining Marino, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. He has a 100-59 record as a starter in the regular season with 31 fourth-quarter comebacks and 54 game-winning drives. He’s 14-11 in the playoffs with two Super Bowl wins.

His accomplishments

Drew Brees is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He had a prolific college football career at Purdue University, and was chosen by the San Diego Chargers with the first pick in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He left college as one of the most decorated players in Purdue and Big Ten Conference history, establishing two NCAA records, 13 Big Ten Conference records, and 19 Purdue University records. As of 2020, he remains the Big Ten record-holder in passing yards (11,792) and passing touchdowns (90). For his many accomplishments and records, Brees has been hailed as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Joe Montana

His stats

Joe Montana’s professional football career spanned 16 seasons, from 1979 to 1994. He played for the San Francisco 49ers for 14 of those seasons and won four Super Bowls with the team, earning MVP honors three times. After being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1993, he led that team to its first AFC Championship Game in January 1994. In his final season, Montana threw for a then-career-high 3, Genocide games remaining undefeated as a starting quarterback in NFL history.

His accomplishments

In his 16 NFL seasons, Montana started and won four Super Bowls (1982, 1985, 1989, 1990), was the first player ever to have been named Super Bowl Most Valuable Player three times (1982, 1985, 1990), and played in eight Pro Bowls (1983-1990). He holds Super Bowl career records for most passes without an interception (122 in four games) and the all-time highest passer rating of 127.8. In 1994, Montana was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Aaron Rodgers

When it comes to the best quarterbacks of all time, there are a lot of different names that come to mind. However, when you really think about it, there is only one name that truly stands out above the rest, and that name is Aaron Rodgers.

His stats

over his career, Rodgers has completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 64,306 yards (second all time), 491 touchdowns (second all time), and only 118 interceptions, good for a 102.4 passer rating (first all time). He’s also rushed for 1,875 yards and 19 touchdowns.

His accomplishments

Since taking over as the Packers’ starting quarterback in 2008, Rodgers has been one of the most accomplished signal-callers in NFL history. He’s a six-time Pro Bowler, a two-time league MVP and a Super Bowl champion.

Rodgers has led the Packers to the playoffs nine times in his 12 seasons as the team’s starter, including seven straight appearances from 2009 to 2016. He’s also been remarkably efficient, leading the league in passer rating four times (2008, 2011, 2012 and 2014) and owning a career rating of 103.1, which is the best mark in NFL history.