QB2 matchmaker: Finding landing spots for Jameis Winston and other expendable backups as roster cuts loom

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The NFL is about to close the book on the preseason with the third and final installment of exhibitions on deck this weekend. Once those games conclude, the ball rolls into the hands of the front office, as they’ll be tasked with whittling down the 90-man summer roster into the opening 53-man unit to begin the regular season. 

While most of the attention over this period will be paid to the departures, it’s also a sneaky period for additions. The preseason can reveal some weaknesses on a given roster and teams could look to look to improve those areas by dipping into the trade market with teams that may have a surplus at those positions. For the team trading a player away, it’s a win-win as it gets the franchise one step closer toward getting to the 53-man threshold while likely picking up some future, low-level draft capital in the process. 

Below, we’re specifically going to be looking at some backup quarterbacks who could be on the chopping block during roster cuts and identify an ideal trade partner for them across the NFL.

Ranking rookie QB performances from NFL preseason Week 2: Jaxson Dart shines again, Quinn Ewers bounces back

Jared Dubin

Winston was initially brought in by the New York Giants to serve as the top backup to Russell Wilson. However, that was until the club drafted Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart with the 25th overall pick at the 2025 NFL Draft. While the plan remains for Wilson to be the Giants’ Week 1 starter, Dart has crashed the party in the QB room with a sensational preseason. Along with bringing up questions regarding if/when Dart should see the field in 2025, it may also make a veteran like Winston expendable. If so, the Vikings make some sense as a possible destination. 

Minnesota is about to hand the keys to the franchise over to 2024 first-rounder J.J. McCarthy, and don’t have much behind him at the moment. Sam Howell is the top backup, but he’s put together a lackluster preseason which included completing just one of his five passes for 13 yards and an interception against New England. If the Vikings are nervous about their depth behind a first-year starter, Winston gives them someone who has 87 regular-season starts under his belt.

Kenny Pickett

Joe Flacco is officially QB1 in Cleveland. That now leaves Pickett along with rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in reserve roles behind him. In theory, the Browns could elect to keep all four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, but that’s a lofty number. If they don’t want to do that and want to continue developing both Gabriel (a third-round pick) and Sanders (fifth), Pickett suddenly becomes the odd man out. The Browns acquired him in a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2025 fifth-rounder (and Dorian Thompson-Robinson), so they’d maybe look to recoup a fifth-rounder or, at least, a lesser Day 3 pick in a potential trade. The Cowboys could be in the QB2 market after Joe Milton III has endured a hot-and-cold preseason where he’s thrown interceptions in both exhibitions. 

Rams fans could breathe a little sigh of relief on Monday as Matthew Stafford returned to practice after missing the bulk of training camp/preseason due to a back injury. While Stafford has taken this positive step, it does feel like an injury that could regress at a moment’s notice. And current backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, isn’t exactly an iron man either. If L.A. wanted to truly give itself a bona fide safety net at quarterback behind Stafford, they could explore a Kirk Cousins trade as he continues to serve as QB2 behind Michael Penix Jr. in Atlanta. It should be pointed out, this would require some salary cap gymnastics that may not truly be feasible. Putting that aside and strictly looking at it from a football/fit standpoint, it makes some sense. Of course, there’s familiarity with Cousins on the coaching staff as Sean McVay was his OC in Washington from 2014 to 2016. Cousins could also serve as a stopgap beyond 2025 in the event that Stafford (who has flirted with retirement) decides to hang it up after this year. 

Heinicke was traded to the Chargers last summer and spent the 2024 season as the primary backup to Justin Herbert. Fast forward to this summer and his job as QB2 isn’t so secure, despite inking a one-year, $6.2 million extension in March. That’s thanks to former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance outplaying him this preseason. In Week 2 of the preseason, Lance flashed, throwing for 121 yards and rushing for 25 yards against the Los Angeles Rams. If Jim Harbaugh wants to keep two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, Heinicke could have some minimal value on the trade market. 

The Carolina Panthers could be an interesting fit amid questions regarding their quarterback room behind Bryce Young. Andy Dalton is currently considered day to day with a right elbow injury that forced him out of Carolina’s preseason contest against the Houston Texans. Meanwhile, fellow backup Jack Plummer threw two interceptions in that matchup after coming in for the injured Dalton. 

Sam Howell

Tyrod Taylor is sidelined after undergoing surgery on his knee, which leaves plenty of questions at quarterback behind Justin Fields. Adrian Martinez and rookie Brady Cook are the other two backups, and if New York is looking for someone with a little more experience in the event that Fields gets dinged up, they could look toward Howell. As we noted above, Minnesota could look to upgrade off of Howell and, while the former UNC quarterback hasn’t put together the best preseason, he does have a stronger résumé than their current backups, including nearly 3,946 yards passing during his 17 starts with the Washington Commanders in 2023.  

This news was originally published on this post .

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