With the Super Bowl now over and the 2025 season officially in the books. The next real phase of the 2026 offseason is to get ready for free agency. The quarterback market could be in for another significant shift. And three quarterbacks may find themselves on different rosters for the 2026 season. These changes would also impact the fantasy football landscape heading into the new draft season.
There is already news about one of the bigger names among the quarterbacks. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray could be a trade candidate this coming offseason.
In his report, Schefter notes that trading Murray comes with some “financial hurdles.” These hurdles are for the team looking for the Cardinals quarterback. Murray is still under his $230.5 million contract. If the Cardinals release Murray before June 1st, they would be on the hook for a $54.7 million dead cap hit. On the other hand, should the Cardinals get a trade, they would save nearly$38 million in cap space. The Cardinals would also get hit with a much lower dead cap hit at $17.9 million.
The Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is another player named as a potential move piece. The Dolphins organization has already moved on from a lot of the “old guard”. Mike McDaniel was fired by the team and replaced by Jeff Hafley. They also added a new GM in former Green Bay Packers Executive Jon-Eric Sullivan.
With all these sweeping changes, it only makes sense that Tua could also be on the move. Tua is also still under contract (four-years, $212.5 million). Trading Tua would be good for the Dolphins. It would help them move in a different direction. Yet, they would have to eat nearly $55 million in dead cap he has in 2026. Cutting Tua doesn’t seem to make things easier on the Dolphins’ salary cap either. With a dead cap hit of $67 million in 2026 and another $31.8 million in 2027.
And then there is Kirk Cousins. The latest reports expect Kirk Cousins to be released by the Atlanta Falcons. This situation would position him to join a new squad in 2026. Cousins took a backseat to Michael Penix until he suffered a season-ending injury. Cousins stepped in Week 12 and finished the season as the Falcons’ starting quarterback. Over that time, Cousins amassed over 1,400 passing yards and a 10:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
It didn’t take long for Kirk Cousins to be linked back to his old team, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings aren’t the only team that could use some quarterback help this offseason. There are still plenty of teams in the market for a new quarterback. These three players are garnering interest. Interest that will increase if they are traded or released from their respective teams.
Fantasy Outlook For 2026
One of the key components to making the fantasy playoffs and making a run to the championship is team building. One popular strategy in team building is waiting to draft a quarterback. This allows fantasy managers to load up on skill players to create a dominant fantasy roster. This strategy also gives managers valuable trade assets. These assets can be used in further developing their roster if injuries occur.
Adding three more quarterbacks to the pool can help with this strategy. All three quarterbacks have been top-10 options at different points for fantasy football. Kyler Murray finished as the QB10 just a year ago during the 2024 season. Kirk Cousins was the QB8 back in 2022 with the Minnesota Vikings. Tua Tagovailoa just missed the top-10 cut during the 2023 season, finishing as the QB11.
A change in scenery could improve the fantasy appeal of these three quarterbacks. This would add some real fantasy-sleeper appeal to the quarterback position during the 2026 fantasy draft. Not too long ago, fantasy managers added quarterbacks like Philip Rivers and Tony Romo to their rosters during the draft. They did so at a discount. They performed on par with some of the bigger-name quarterbacks for fantasy.
Fantasy managers must prepare for the offseason. They should keep their eyes glued to the news. These situations will continue to develop. Once their landing spots are locked in, the evaluation of their fantasy value in their new homes can commence. And once that happens, average draft positions start to settle. Then fantasy managers can start to game plan. They can decide if they want to target these quarterbacks. This decision will be part of their draft strategy for the 2026 fantasy season.
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