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NFL teams tend to avoid trading away their starting quarterback for a multitude of reasons. However, we’ve seen it becoming an ever-increasing trend in the league of late with both Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson traded in the last two offseason periods.
Yet, there is a reason why this isn’t an ideal move for a team that is losing a signal caller, and that is because if you get it wrong it will more than likely cost you. Teams have fallen foul of this over the years, although there have been a number of instances in the NFL where it has been more memorable than others.
Here are five occasions when NFL teams have regretted trading their starting quarterback.
#5 - San Francisco 49ers traded Y.A. Tittle
Y.A. Tittle had a reasonably successful career with the San Francisco 49ers, spending 10 seasons with the storied NFL franchise. It was at that point that they decided to trade him.
He never managed to deliver a title to the 49ers, yet he would prove to them that he wasn’t finished at the top level once he adapted to life with the New York Giants. After being traded from the 49ers to the Giants, Tittle had his four most prolific seasons in professional football.
He barely missed a game with the Giants and led the league in touchdowns in two of the four seasons he was there.
The 1963 season saw him with the MVP award for his performances, and the 49ers failed to make the playoffs in any of those four years since they traded Tittle.
#4 - San Francisco 49ers traded Alex Smith
The San Francisco 49ers made this list again due to their trigger-happy approach to dispensing with starting quarterbacks. This may explain their current reluctance to part with Jimmy Garoppolo.
Alex Smith was a surprise arrival in the Bay Area, having been selected with the first-overall selection of the 2005 NFL Draft. It was supposed to be Aaron Rodgers, the boyhood 49ers fan who adored Joe Montana, but it wasn’t to be.
Smith had a fair start with the Niners, but by 2013 the team had moved onto Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick had just taken the Niners to the Super Bowl, but ironically the two quarterbacks were now on totally opposite trajectories in the NFL.
Kaepernick started to struggle on the field, and his exceptional work in bringing attention to social justice in the USA saw him essentially lose his NFL career.
As the 49ers struggled without clarity at the quarterback position, Smith had turned into a machine with Andy Reid in Kansas City.
His career with the Chiefs ended after throwing for 17,608 yards and 102 touchdowns in his five years at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kaepernick would lose his job as a starter and only had one winning season after the Smith trade. Smith would not register anything other than winning records in all the NFL seasons he played for the Chiefs, proving to the Niners that they had made an almighty mistake.
#3 - Miami Dolphins (Ryan Tannehill)
Ryan Tannehill struggled to fulfill his potential after being drafted by the Miami Dolphins. His play was littered with mistakes, and the team and their fans quite quickly gave up on him. By 2019 he was no longer a member of the Dolphins’ roster, with the Tennessee Titans agreeing a trade for him.
Whilst initially expected to be a backup to Marcus Mariota, Tannehill ultimately took the spot and made it his own in Nashville, benefitting from Mike Vrabel’s arrival as head coach.
The 2019 season was fantastic for Tannehill as he immediately made the Dolphins green with envy. He won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, whilst recording the highest ever passing rating in Titans franchise history.
In his three seasons as a starter at Tennessee, he has thrown for over 10,000 yards and won two NFL playoff games, turning the Titans into postseason regulars.
Meanwhile, Miami have yet to find his successor at the quarterback position. Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t adapted to the NFL and the Dolphins, whilst improving under Brian Flores in recent times, have been unable to really progress because of a lack of consistency at quarterback.
#2 - Houston Oilers (Warren Moon)
The Oilers perhaps only regretted this trade for a single season, but trading away Warren Moon to the Minnesota Vikings was a costly error.
Moon was the greatest quarterback the franchise had ever known, yet fears about his longevity led the front-office to move him to Minnesota for a paltry return of fourth and third-round draft picks. At 37, Moon was considered finished, yet he would showcase his talent with the Vikings for a few more seasons.
Over the next two seasons, he posted back-to-back years where he threw for at least 4,200 yards. He was voted into the Pro Bowl both years, all whilst the Oilers had to wait for Steve McNair.
McNair led the team to a Super Bowl appearance, but you have to feel that the Oilers would have been in a far better position to reach it sooner had Moon been retained.
#1 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Steve Young)
Steve Young spent two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1985 and 1986, with the latter being his first full season as a starting quarterback in the NFL.
However, Young’s performances were poor and he was judged harshly at the time. He threw more interceptions than touchdowns in both seasons, and the Buccaneers were looking to offload him. Thankfully, there was an individual in the NFL who knew exactly what Young could do… Bill Walsh.
Walsh was impressed by Young’s qualities as a quarterback and believed his poor performances had simply been due to the Buccaneers surrounding him with poor players. The 49ers traded for Young whilst Tampa Bay drafted Vinny Testaverde and the rest is history.
The Buccaneers struggled on while Young replaced the legendary Joe Montana, winning three Super Bowls (two as a backup), two NFL MVP awards, and leading the league in touchdowns in four separate seasons.
Tampa Bay wouldn’t reach the playoffs again until the 1997 season, by which time Young had won all three of his championships.
