As the current Aaron Rodgers drama unfolds in Green Bay, let’s take a look back at the top 5 quarterbacks who surprisingly changed teams mid-career and found success in their new home 

5. Tarkenton yo-yos between the Vikings and the Giants: Fran Tarkenton played his first 6 NFL seasons for the newly created Minnesota Vikings starting in 1961. The original scrambling quarterback, Fran was years ahead of his time. But he was stuck on a poor team. He was sent to the New York Giants in 1967, in a deal that yielded valuable assets to the Vikings and gave the Giants a capable signal-caller. Five years later, the two teams were at it again, landing Tarkenton back with the Vikings in 1972. He took the Vikings to 3 Super Bowls in the next seven years. At the time of his retirement, Tarkenton owned every major quarterback record including pass attempts, completions, yardage, touchdowns, rushing yards, and wins.

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4. Cool Joe Montana goes to the Chiefs: Joe Montana had an extraordinary career with the San Francisco 49’ers. In his 14 years with the team, he started and won 4 Super Bowls (Super Bowls XVI, XIX, XXIII, and XXIV). He won 2 NFL MVPs during this time and owned a series of records, including the highest career passing rating for a quarterback. Unfortunately, he got injured in the 1991 preseason, and ended up missing the 1991 and most of the 1992 season. This caused the baton to be passed to Steve Young. A problem of plenty at the QB position caused the 49’ers to trade Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. He had a couple of successful seasons with the chiefs, making the playoffs both years and reaching the AFC Championship game in the 1993 season. Montana retired with the second highest passer rating all time and made the Pro Bowl 8 times, a record for a QB at the time. Although controversial at the time, the 49’ers decision to go with Young turned out to be a sound one, as he ended up winning them another Super Bowl (Super Bowl XXIX) and turned in MVP seasons in both 1992 and 1994. 

3. Brett Favre, wait – is he retired? Favre was synonymous with the Green Bay Packers, winning 3 MVP titles and appearing in two consecutive Super Bowls, winning one (Super Bowl XXXI). The final few years of his career would be full of drama. He returned to the Packers for the 2007 season after seemingly wanting to retire. Then, in March 2008, he told the Packers that he wanted to retire, but changed his mind by July. By then though, the Packers had decided to give Aaron Rodgers a shot. After lots of drama and saber rattling from both sides, during which the Packers first retired and then unretired Favre’s number, they traded Favre to the Jets in August. After a successful start to his career with the Jets, going 8-3 in his first 11 games, Favre was injured but still played in the final five games. He retired again in 2009 but changed his mind yet again, this time joining the Minnesota Vikings in August 2009. He proceeded to have a landmark season and took the Vikings to the playoffs. In the beginning of the 2010 season, Favre announced it as his last. Favre got injured late that season, and finally filed his retirement papers in 2011. Was the drama worth it? You bet! Favre finished his career holding nearly every NFL record – most games started, most passing yards, most touchdown passes to name a few. 

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2. Peyton Manning bolts the Colts for the Broncos: Peyton was already a legend in his first 13 NFL seasons with the Colts, winning 4 NFL MVPs and reaching 2 Super Bowls, winning one (Super Bowl XLI). He had to go through spinal fusion surgery in his neck before the start of the 2011 season, as injuries sustained in previous years caused nerve damage. This caused him to sit out the entire 2011 season. Because of this, the Colts wound up with a 2-14 record and the number 1 pick in the draft, which turned out to be Andrew Luck. With an uncertain football career ahead of him post surgery, Peyton had to take his talents elsewhere, and wound up with the Denver Broncos. As it turns out, he was far from done. In the 2013 season, he broke the NFL single season records for passing touchdowns and passing yards, won MVP for the fifth time and took the Broncos to the Super Bowl. He made another Super Bowl in the 2015 season and won it (Super Bowl XV). This made him the first QB in the NFL to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises. Manning held most career NFL records for a quarterback at the time of his retirement, including most MVPs, most passing yards, passing TDs and most Pro Bowls

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1. Tom Brady divorces the Patriots: Brady will always be synonymous with the New England Patriots and its legendary coach Bill Belichick. He played 20 seasons there, reaching 9 Super Bowls and winning 6 (Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI and LIII). He also won 3 MVPs in that time. It wouldn’t have been surprising to see him retire after the New England Patriots decided not to bring him back for the 2020 season. Instead, he took his talents to Tampa Bay and led the team to victory in Super Bowl LV. Brady currently owns most records for a quarterback including career passes, touchdowns, wins, NFL championships and Super Bowl MVPs. He’s clearly not done, and we expect to see Brady continue to add to his records over the next couple of years at least, as he’s signed through the 2022 season.