Top 10 QBs Of All-Time: Where Does Aaron Rodgers Rank Ahead Of Final Season?

After years of retirement rumors, Aaron Rodgers made it official on Wednesday. The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback announced that the 2026 season will be his last. 

While the last few seasons haven’t been kind to Rodgers, he sealed his place as one of the greatest players in pro football history well before his time with the Green Bay Packers came to an end. He is a lock to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and he may eventually get a street named after him in Green Bay.

And Rodgers’ name will come up whenever a discussion is held on the greatest quarterbacks of all time. The only debate will be about how high on the list he should rank.

So, with Rodgers entering his 22nd and final NFL season, where does he fit on the all-time quarterbacks list? Here are my top 10 quarterbacks to ever play the game.

Easily the greatest quarterback to never win a Super Bowl. Dan Marino did lead the Miami Dolphins to one appearance, though, in his spectacular second season. That year, he became the first quarterback to ever top 5,000 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns in a single season and was the NFL’s MVP. Known for his lightning-quick release, he was the most prolific passer of the 1980s and early ‘90s. He still ranks 10th all-time in passing yardage (61,361) and eighth all-time in passing touchdowns (420).

Ernie Accorsi, the long-time NFL general manager who worked for the Baltimore Colts during the Unitas era, once told me, “The definition of leadership was watching Johnny Unitas get off the team bus.” Unitas had an aura and confidence about him at a time when quarterbacks were just beginning to be superstars in the league. In fact, he helped set up the modern passing era with his golden right arm, leading the Colts to three championships and winning three MVPs. His numbers may pale in comparison to the modern stars, but in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, he dominated the league.

Drew Brees might be the most prolific, high-volume passer of all time. He was one of only two quarterbacks ever to top 80,000 career yards (80,358) and he led the NFL in passing seven times in his 20 seasons. He is also second all-time with 571 passing touchdowns. Despite being just 6-feet tall, he had remarkable accuracy, completing 67.7% of his career passes. He led the NFL in that category six times, topped 70% in seven of his seasons and set the all-time record when he completed 74.4% of his passes in 2018. He went to 13 Pro Bowls and was the Super Bowl MVP when the New Orleans Saints won their only championship.

John Elway wasn’t as prolific as some of his counterparts in the 1980s and ‘90s, but he did lead the Denver Broncos to five Super Bowls. And when he capped his career with back-to-back Super Bowl championships, his place in the top 10 was secured. Elway won an MVP, too, and he finished with impressive career numbers. His 51,475 passing yards ranked second all-time when he retired and currently sit in 12th, while his 300 passing touchdowns ranked third when he retired and still rank 14th. Those are impressive marks considering the rise of the passing game since Elway retired. More importantly, Elway retired as the winningest quarterback in NFL history with 148 victories — a number that still ranks seventh all-time.

Brett Favre was the definition of a “gunslinger. The Green Bay Packers icon was one of the most prolific passers in NFL history … and is still the all-time leader in interceptions (366, including the playoffs). But Favre was a master of the broken play, with the ability to turn scrambles into dazzling, highlight-reel throws. He was an 11-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion. He is also the only player in NFL history to win three straight MVP awards (1995-97), a remarkable feat. Favre’s 71,838 passing yards still rank fourth all-time, and his 508 touchdown passes are still the fifth-most. What might have made Favre different, though, was his Iron Man status. He set a position player record with 297 consecutive starts in his career — 321 straight when the playoffs are included.

Now entering his final season, Aaron Rodgers is 42 and still putting up respectable numbers at quarterback. But while there’s always a chance for a late-career miracle, his best days are behind him and his legacy is very secure. Rodgers is a four-time NFL MVP — one of only two players to ever win that many, and one of just five players to ever win the award in back-to-back seasons. He also took the Packers to a Super Bowl in 2010 in only his third season as a starting quarterback, while making Green Bay a playoff mainstay as he led it to four NFC Championship Games in 11 seasons. Ahead of the 2026 season, Rodgers is fifth all-time in passing yards (66,274), fourth all-time in passing touchdowns (527), with a chance to finish third. But what’s made Rodgers elite is his efficiency. He currently has the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in NFL history and is also the all-time leader in passer rating (102.2). Sure, Rodgers is also the most-sacked quarterback of all time (600), but you can look past that when he’s put up the numbers he’s had and the amount he’s won. Rodgers is sixth all-time in wins with 163, and is just one last 10-win season away from finishing fourth.

The scary part about Patrick Mahomes is that he’s still only 30 years old and has played just nine NFL seasons, including the year he was Alex Smith’s backup. But that means his career might only be half over, and look what he’s done already: 35,939 passing yards and 267 passing touchdowns — including two seasons over 5,000 yards and one season with 50 touchdowns. He’s a three-time Super Bowl champion (and Super Bowl MVP), has been to two other Super Bowls, and before he got hurt last season, he had led the Chiefs to the AFC Championship Game in each of his first seven years as their starter. He’s got a 17-4 record in the playoffs and has thrown 46 postseason touchdown passes. Only Tom Brady has thrown more and won more in the playoffs, and he might have another decade to add to a résumé that almost no one else can match.

In many ways, Peyton Manning was the prototype of the modern quarterback, making him easily the most anticipated quarterback prospect ever. And Manning more than lived up to his considerable hype. He’s the only five-time MVP in NFL history and led two teams to Super Bowl championships (Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos) and played in four. He might have made a couple more, too, if he hadn’t kept running into Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the playoffs. He’s third all-time in passing yards (71,940) and passing touchdowns (539) and tied for second in wins (186). He also arguably had the best season for a quarterback in NFL history, throwing for a record 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns with Denver in 2013. 

Before Tom Brady came around, “Joe Cool” was the undisputed king of NFL quarterbacks. Joe Montana set the standard in the 1980s and early ‘90s, running the Bill Walsh West Coast offense to perfection. He was a four-time Super Bowl champion, a three-time Super Bowl MVP, and didn’t throw a single interception in his 122 Super Bowl passes. Montana’s Super Bowl passer rating of 127.8 is a record that still stands, and his 45 playoff touchdown passes and 16 playoff wins rank him third all-time. His career numbers aren’t dazzling (40,551 yards and 273 touchdowns), but they were a product of a different era and the fact that he was only a starter for 12 seasons. But he made the most of those dozen years, taking his teams to the playoffs 11 times.

There is no debate about who is No. 1, and no one is even close. The 199th pick in the 2000 draft, Tom Brady won seven Super Bowls (more than any single franchise has ever won), five Super Bowl MVPs and three NFL MVPs. A 15-time Pro Bowler, he is the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards (89,214), passing touchdowns (649) and wins (251). He’s also the all-time playoff leader in those categories (13,400 yards, 88 touchdowns, 35 wins). But Brady was unparalleled as a winner. With him leading the way, the Patriots won 17 division titles, including 11 in a row, and went to 13 AFC Championship Games, including eight in a row. He took the Patriots to nine Super Bowls, winning six, and then won one in his first year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, too. In case you need more, Brady was the oldest NFL MVP (40), the oldest Super Bowl MVP (43) and the oldest quarterback to receive a Pro Bowl nod (44). Brady played an astonishing 23 seasons in the NFL, which was long enough to land him on the all-decade teams for both the 2000s and the 2010s.