While the NFL has been a pass-heavy league for the past quarter-century, four NFL teams have still not had a quarterback reach the mark since 2000.
Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season is now underway, with Americans tuning in to an absolute shellacking of the Green Bay Packers at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons, who entered the game with an 0-2 record and perhaps the murkiest quarterback situation in the league.
Despite picking up 312 passing yards in his outing, Packers QB Jordan Love completed just 28 of his whopping 52 pass attempts, converting on two touchdown passes alongside one interception. The mixed-bag of a performance does leave Love with the NFL lead in passing yards heading into Sunday, having compiled 844 yards with his arm in the first three games of the season.
Barring injury, Love appears to be well on his way to his second-career 4,000 passing yard season, having initially reached the mark back in 2023 in his first full season as the Packers’ starting quarterback.
Though historically a lofty achievement in the NFL, the pass-heavy style of football that has been predominantly played over the last 25 years has led to there being a healthy handful of quarterbacks reaching 4,000 passing yards each season – typically anywhere from six to 10 players.
Therefore, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that most NFL teams have not only had a player reach the milestone, but have also had it happen fairly recently. Of the league’s 32 teams, 20 have had a 4,000-yard passer at least once during this decade, while 28 teams have had it happen at least once since 2011 – a historically potent season for quarterbacks.
While it’s been a very long time coming for three of the four teams that haven’t had a 4,000-yard passer yet this century – with one club infamously having never had a quarterback reach the benchmark.
The Chicago Bears came awfully close in 2025 to having their first 4,000-yard passer in franchise history in the form of Caleb Williams, finishing with 3,942 yards last year. Now dealing with a hamstring injury that will keep Williams out on a week-to-week basis, it’s unclear if Williams will have a realistic shot at reaching the milestone in 2026.
As for the other 31 teams, here’s a look at the last time each club had a quarterback reach the coveted milestone, beginning with the most recent occurrences:
- Los Angeles Rams: 2025 Matthew Stafford, 4,707 yds
- Detroit Lions: 2025 Jared Goff, 4,564 yds
- Dallas Cowboys: 2025 Dak Prescott, 4,552 yds
- New England Patriots: 2025 Drake Maye, 4,394 yds
- Seattle Seahawks: 2025 Sam Darnold, 4,048 yds
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 2025 Trevor Lawrence, 4,007 yds
- Cincinnati Bengals: 2024 Joe Burrow, 4,918 yds
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2024 Baker Mayfield, 4,500 yds
- Minnesota Vikings: 2024 Sam Darnold, 4,319 yds
- Baltimore Ravens: 2024 Lamar Jackson, 4,172 yds
- Miami Dolphins: 2023 Tua Tagovailoa, 4,624 yds
- Buffalo Bills: 2023 Josh Allen, 4,306 yds
- San Francisco 49ers: 2023 Brock Purdy, 4,280 yds
- Kansas City Chiefs: 2023 Patrick Mahomes, 4,183 yds
- Green Bay Packers: 2023 Jordan Love, 4,159 yds
- Houston Texans: 2023 C.J. Stroud, 4,108 yds
- Los Angeles Chargers: 2022 Justin Herbert, 4,739 yds
- Las Vegas Raiders: 2021 Derek Carr, 4,804 yds
- Atlanta Falcons: 2020 Matt Ryan, 4,581 yds
- Indianapolis Colts: 2020 Philip Rivers, 4,169 yds
- Philadelphia Eagles: 2019 Carson Wentz, 4,039 yds
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 2018 Ben Roethlisberger, 5,129 yds
- New York Giants: 2018 Eli Manning, 4,299 yds
- New Orleans Saints: 2017 Drew Brees, 4,334 yds
- Washington Commanders: 2017 Kirk Cousins, 4,093 yds*
- Arizona Cardinals: 2016 Carson Palmer, 4,233 yds
- Denver Broncos: 2014 Peyton Manning, 4,727 yds
- Carolina Panthers: 2011 Cam Newton, 4,051 yds
- Tennessee Titans: 1991 Warren Moon, 4,690 yds**
- Cleveland Browns: 1980 Brian Sipe, 4,132 yds
- New York Jets: 1967 Joe Namath, 4,007 yds
*denotes team was known as Washington Redskins at the time
**denotes team was known as Houston Oilers at the time
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