Starting the regular season with a real quarterback battle is not the most comfortable situation for NFL teams. It’s that old story: if you have two starting quarterbacks, you have none. So teams with uncertain situations around the league want to use the offseason program and training camp to figure the situation out.

Let’s discuss the five most enticing quarterback competitions around the NFL in 2026. 

Fernando Mendoza vs. Kirk Cousins, Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders have a “QB battle,” but not really, if that makes sense. Sure, they’re dressing it up as a battle between Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza, but this is Cousins’ battle to lose. He’s the guy, and it’s very obvious he will start the season. The true battle right now is seeing how quickly Mendoza can climb the depth chart.

Klint Kubiak and co. are making him work for it. He started at the bottom and even finished mandatory minicamp, still taking the majority of his reps with the third-stringers. Throughout training camp, keep an eye on how quickly he passes up Aidan O’Connell, if he does.

O’Connell has had an amazing offseason and has the experience, but it would be quite odd if he were the next man up over the No. 1 overall pick. Regardless, Mendoza has already made huge strides and has put in a ton of work on the things he needs the most, like more work from under center. — Justin Churchill, A to Z Sports Las Vegas

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Kyler Murray vs. J.J. McCarthy, Vikings

The Vikings’ quarterback competition is in a fascinating place. After weeks of Kyler Murray being viewed as the unquestioned favorite, there was a tonal shift after mandatory minicamp that painted J.J. McCarthy in a better light. It raised a couple of questions about why there was a tonal shift. Is McCarthy performing better? Could this be about building up McCarthy’s stock for a potential trade?

A lot of this stems directly from quotes that Murray gave after the first minicamp practice, where he spoke the obvious about learning a complicated offensive system.

“I think the toughest part is having to split reps,” Murray said. “It’s me already being behind, not getting the amount of reps that you know you would typically want to, gotta get learning an offense. That’s probably the toughest part. Again, going back to the past, being in control of everything, understanding what we were already doing, because I was comfortable within the system. Now, [I] come to a new system, learning on the fly, trying to play fast, efficiently, and then let it loose while learning. That’s the toughest part.”

Some believed that to be Murray whining about having to “compete” for the first time in his professional career. The reality is a lot different than that. It was a statement of fact in learning a complex West Coast-based offensive system that Kevin O’Connell runs.

Where does this leave us? The reality is this: both parties will get a real chance to compete during training camp. But make no mistake about it: there is a reason that Murray still has around 90% implied odds to win the job. — Tyler Forness, A to Z Sports Minnesota

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Michael Penix vs. Tua Tagovailoa, Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons signed Tagovailoa to a veteran minimum contract to compete with Penix, but that competition is just a mirage at this point, because Penix is still recovering from a knee injury he suffered last season. Atlanta’s new coaching staff wants to create that environment, but it hasn’t been a reality.

“It’s tough to have a competition when both guys aren’t competing at the same level right now,” quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt said. “So it’s hard, and it’ll come, it’ll happen at some point. Mike’s done a great job of getting himself to where he is right now. Really impressive to take seven-on-seven reps and go out and compete. That’s been great. But really there is no competition until we can actually evaluate him equally.”

Kevin Stefanski values competence and the ability to run an offense with efficiency, so Tagovailoa could have some edge despite having a lower ceiling. For now, though, the former Dolphin is the unquestioned No. 1. — Wendell Ferreira, A to Z Sports NFL

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Deshaun Watson vs. Shedeur Sanders, Browns

The Cleveland Browns have one last season tied to QB Deshaun Watson, then the overwhelming feeling is that he’ll be heading to free agency. Browns head coach Todd Monken entered the job hoping to have a quarterback named by the end of mandatory minicamp, but it hasn’t happened and there are two reasons. Shedeur Sanders has made it a true competition with noted improvements in the way he sees the game, footwork, and decision-making during practice. On the other hand, Watson hasn’t run away with the job, not that anyone would expect him to with how the last four years have gone.

Cleveland will take its quarterback competition into training camp and a starter will be decided there. Dillon Gabriel and sixth-round pick Taylen Green round out the room for Cleveland. Gabriel is likely the odd man out with Green being a developmental piece for Monken. When will we have a quarterback named? It just depends on when Watson or Sanders firmly takes the job, and shows they’re the guy Monken can be most comfortable with in a season where the team can’t just lose games, or he’ll be a one-and-done. — Brandon Little, A to Z Sports Cleveland

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Jacoby Brissett vs. Gardner Minshew vs. Carson Beck, Cardinals

Technically, the Cardinals would start Brissett after moving on from Kyler Murray. The problem is Brissett now wants to be paid like a starter, and Arizona doesn’t have a big motivation to give him more than the current $5.44 million projected salary.

So Brissett skipped OTAs and didn’t practice in mandatory minicamp despite reporting, opening the door for a competition. For a rebuilding team, it could make more sense to simply start Carson Beck and see what they have in the rookie, but it seems like they’re going to a veteran route and giving reps to Minshew. The idea is that a more experienced starter can allow the staff to fully evaluate the rest of the offensive roster. — Wendell Ferreira, A to Z Sports NFL