After Ben Roethlisberger overtook Terry Bradshaw as the Steelers quarterback with the most passing yards, I was inspired to take a look at how things stand for all the NFL franchises. Here's the results:
Franchise | Yards | Yds/start | QB |
---|---|---|---|
Packers | 61655 | 253.0 | Brett Favre (*) |
Dolphins | 61361 | 240.0 | Dan Marino (+) |
Colts | 54828 | 214.0 | Peyton Manning (*) |
Broncos | 51475 | 231.0 | John Elway (+) |
Chargers | 43040 | 171.0 | Dan Fouts (+) |
Patriots | 41824 | 164.0 | Tom Brady (*) |
Bills | 35467 | 140.4 | Jim Kelly (+) |
49ers | 35124 | 182.6 | Joe Montana (+) |
Cardinals | 34639 | 164.6 | Jim Hart |
Titans | 33685 | 173.0 | Warren Moon (+) |
Giants | 33462 | 167.6 | Phil Simms |
Vikings | 33098 | 143.0 | Fran Tarkenton (+) |
Cowboys | 32942 | 199.6 | Troy Aikman (+) |
Eagles | 32873 | 231.5 | Donovan McNabb |
Bengals | 32838 | 190.9 | Ken Anderson |
Saints | 30114 | 301.1 | Drew Brees |
Seahawks | 29434 | 224.7 | Matt Hasselbeck |
Chiefs | 28507 | 181.6 | Len Dawson (+) |
Steelers | 28066 | 237.8 | Ben Roethlisberger |
Jets | 27057 | 214.7 | Joe Namath (+) |
Jaguars | 25698 | 219.6 | Mark Brunell |
Redskins | 25206 | 203.3 | Joe Theismann |
Rams | 23758 | 226.3 | Jim Everett |
Browns | 23713 | 213.6 | Brian Sipe |
Falcons | 23470 | 194.0 | Steve Bartkowski |
Panthers | 19258 | 214.0 | Jake Delhomme |
Raiders | 19078 | 198.7 | Ken Stabler |
Texans | 18297 | 261.4 | Matt Schaub |
Lions | 15710 | 184.8 | Bobby Layne (+) |
Ravens | 15506 | 224.7 | Joe Flacco |
Buccaneers | 14820 | 205.8 | Vinny Testaverde |
Bears | 14686 | 114.7 | Sid Luckman (+) |
Comments:
Players marked with a (+) are in the Hall of Fame. Players marked with a (*) are certain to get in easily when the time comes. Players in bold are the current starters for the indicated team.
Also note that these are franchise records; Favre has more career passing yards than that, but only including his time with the Jets and Vikings.
Some time later this season, Aaron Rodgers should make it a third of the way to Brett Favre's total with the Packers.
There are a number of franchise records that are close to being broken, and should fall in the next couple years. For each of the following, you should assume a caveat of "assuming they remain healthy and don't get benched".
Eli Manning should pass Phil Simms for the Giants' record sometime next year.
Matt Ryan is about two years from passing Steve Bartkowski for the Falcons' record.
Matt Stafford is about two years away from Bobby Layne's record for the Lions.
Josh Freeman (again, assuming he doesn't get benched) should pass Vinny Testaverde's record for the Bucs next year.
Jay Cutler is about 19 games from passing Sid Luckman's record for the Bears.