The best player ever for all 32 NFL teams
Some NFL players are so much more than the basic sum of their parts.
They are not mere cogs in The Machine, doing their job, punching in and out while carrying a lunch pail. They are the genuine difference-makers, the tone-setters, the memorable faces of the franchise, and the people who inherently make the uniforms they wear iconic by default.
No matter how long an NFL team has actually been around, they’ve had at least one great player. It’d be impossible not to. Everyone has had that one superstar who was a bright magnet of charisma and someone who never shied away from the spotlight — either from the opposing team or fans. Everyone has had that player who made folks fall in love with their team.
The following list takes a look at the finest player in franchise history for all 32 NFL teams. It takes into account individual accomplishments, peer comparisons, influence on their team and city, and how well their skills translated to the tests of time. If you’re even a casual pro football observer, you will undoubtedly guess some of the more obvious selections, while others had more of a back-and-forth.
Let’s break it down.
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After 17 seasons with the Cardinals, Fitzgerald finished second all-time in career receiving yards (17,492) and receptions (1,432), and sixth all-time in receiving touchdowns (121). The 11-time Pro Bowler will walk into Canton in 2026 as a no-doubt First-Ballot Hall of Famer.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
With all due respect to the prolific Matt Ryan, the 2010s Falcons era — the finest in team history — will be remembered far more for Jones’ exploits. A seven-time Pro Bowler and a fixture on various All-Pro teams, Jones was a matchup nightmare for every cornerback every single Sunday. Receivers with his unique blend of speed, strength, and grace don’t grow on trees.
Lewis was one of two Hall of Famers (along with Jonathan Ogden) the Ravens selected in their first-ever draft. And over the course of 17 years manning the middle of Baltimore’s defense, he became the heart and soul of the franchise that embodied its city perfectly. A two-time Defensive Player of the Year and seven-time First-Team All-Pro, Lewis is in the conversation for the best defender in pro football history.
The list of accolades for Smith never ends. Eleven Pro Bowls. Eight First-Team All-Pro selections. Two Defensive Player of the Year Awards. A selection to the NFL’s 1980s and 1990s All-Decade Team and the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. Oh, and he’s also the only player to ever record 200 career sacks. No big deal, though.
AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman
Before running well became a prerequisite to being a star NFL quarterback, Cam Newton was the one who set the standard. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft, Newton more than lived up to the hype in almost a decade with Carolina. The talented dual-threat remains the only player in franchise history to win an Offensive Rookie of the Year and MVP award, and that 2015 MVP campaign is one of the finest in NFL lore. He could and often would take over NFL games like an NBA shooting guard. The Panthers’ four playoff appearances with Newton at the helm are as much as the rest of the expansion franchise’s history combined.
Chicago Bears: RB Walter Payton
AP Photo/ Fred Jewell
The NFL’s charter franchise has had many great running backs star out of its backfield, but none compare to the incandescent Walter Payton. A nine-time Pro Bowler, five-time First-Team All-Pro, and 1977 MVP, Payton retired as the NFL’s then-leading rusher. He was the catalyst behind the organization’s lone Super Bowl victory and remains a quintessential example of playing hard and tough with poise for many football fans to this day.
Cincinnati Bengals: LT Anthony Munoz
Munoz played 13 seasons for the Bengals. He made the Pro Bowl 11 times and was a First-Team All-Pro on nine occasions. He was the anchor for a Cincinnati squad that played in two Super Bowls during the 1980s. It’d be hard to blink if someone professed he was the greatest offensive lineman of all time.
Cleveland Browns: RB Jim Brown
AP Photo/David Richard
A three-time MVP, eight-time Pro Bowler, and eight-time rushing leader (!), Brown squeezed every last drop out of his time with the Browns. He was a true Superstar Running Back before they became en-vogue.
Dallas Cowboys: RB Emmitt Smith
AP Photo/Bill Kostroun
To say Smith was more a byproduct of the Cowboys’ “Great Wall” offensive line of the 1990s would be foolish. If he wasn’t a special talent, he doesn’t finish as the NFL’s all-time rushing yards (18,355) and touchdowns (164) leader. There are many super players in Cowboys history, but Smith was inarguably the most successful on an individual and team level.
Denver Broncos: QB John Elway
AP Photo/Paul Sakuma
One of the original poster boys for athletic quarterbacks with giant arms, Elway took the Broncos to five Super Bowls, winning two. A nine-time Pro Bowler and the 1987 MVP, Elway was the face of the Broncos during his playing tenure and their most successful era. Even well into retirement, he remains the face of the organization and is an unmitigated Colorado icon.
AP Photo/Jeff Kowalsky
Sanders never had a team in Detroit that matched his exceptional abilities, but it didn’t matter. A cavalcade of defenders usually met Sanders in the backfield, and he’d turn the play into a backbreaking gain anyway. He made a living out of turning nothing into the extraordinary. In a decade with the Lions, Sanders qualified for 10 Pro Bowls and 10 different First or Second-Team All-Pro selections. If not for an “early” retirement in 1998, he would’ve likely even (if temporarily) possessed the all-time rushing yards record.
Green Bay Packers: QB Aaron Rodgers
AP Photo/Mike Roemer
For a franchise with as rich of a tradition as the Packers, this wasn’t an easy choice. But I’ll roll with perhaps the most efficient quarterback ever, a four-time MVP, any day. Rodgers deserves his flowers for what he achieved in Green Bay. He will be regularly discussed as one of the top signal callers of all time in the decades to come.
Houston Texans: DE J.J. Watt
Before a host of injuries began robbing him of his athletic gifts, Watt was on a path to becoming the finest defender ever. Even now, his four-year stretch of sheer excellence from 2012 to 2015 — where he amassed 69 sacks and three Defensive Player of the Year Awards — might be the most dominant a pass rusher’s ever been. At his absolute peak, Watt was downright unblockable. At his worst, he was still a relentless Tyrannosaurus rex off the edge.
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A cerebral processor, Manning not only defined Colts’ football for a decade-plus, he was the arguable final stage of the “statue quarterback” archetype of a passer. A four-time MVP (with the Colts), Manning qualified for 11 Pro Bowls with Indianapolis and was a five-time First-Team All-Pro in an era littered with superb signal callers. When all is said and done, he might go down as the greatest No. 1 overall pick ever.
Jacksonville Jaguars: LT Tony Boselli
Because of unfortunate injury luck, Boselli only played seven seasons with the Jaguars. And yet, he was still the stout blindside protector for an expansion franchise that won four playoff games in its first four years. A five-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All-Pro, Boselli was every bit the prototypical left tackle. He shined brightly, even if for a short time.
Is this too early? Not a chance. Mahomes has been so exceptional during his first half-decade in the NFL that he’s cemented himself as one of the greatest signal callers the sport’s ever seen. The man is 28 and already owns two Super Bowl MVPs and two league MVPs. Never mind being the best player the Chiefs have ever had because Mahomes is speeding down the track to be the GOAT.
Las Vegas Raiders: LG Gene Upshaw
The late Upshaw wasn’t the most outspoken player on the brash Raiders of the 1970s, but that was never his game. The offensive line stalwart let his play do the talking, humbling defensive front seven opponents on a weekly basis as the finest pulling guard ever. A six-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All-Pro, Upshaw’s resume speaks for itself.
Los Angeles Chargers: LB Junior Seau
AP Photo/Denis Poroy
Seau nearly started his NFL career in then-San Diego with 12 consecutive Pro Bowls. By the time he hit his veteran stride, he was a perennial First-Team All-Pro patrolling the middle of the field with a trademark tenacity. No other player could be more befitting of a “Mr. Charger” title than the prolific Hall of Famer.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
With all due respect to greats like Merlin Olsen and Kurt Warner, Donald has been so dominant as a Ram that he makes their accomplishments pale in comparison. A three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Donald’s reign of terror from the inside almost singlehandedly reignited NFL teams’ interest in investing in defensive tackle pressure. At just the age of 32, Donald is in a position to become the most distinguished defender in league history by the time he hangs his shoulder pads up.
Miami Dolphins: QB Dan Marino
AP Photo/Hans Deryk
Marino is easily the best NFL player to never win a Super Bowl, but it didn’t come for lack of trying. The gunslinger from Pittsburgh turned the Dolphins into a South Florida phenomenon as a nine-time Pro Bowler, five-time single-season passing yards leader, three-time single-season touchdown-pass leader, and three-time First-Team All-Pro. Marino didn’t win a championship, but his rocket launcher of an arm and famously lightning-quick release set hapless defenses ablaze for 18 years.
Minnesota Vikings: DT Alan Page
The Vikings of the mid-20th century never become the “Purple People Eaters” without Page, er, eating space in the middle of their defense. (Oh, that’s what that means!) Page was a nine-time Pro Bowler, and his 148.5 career sacks rank seventh all-time. He has the most sacks ever for a defensive tackle.
New England Patriots: QB Tom Brady
Was there any doubt? I’m not even sure where to start with Brady on the Patriots. There are 14 Pro Bowl selections. The three MVP honors. The six combined First and Second-Team All-Pro nods and the six Super Bowl wins. Oh, and he also holds every meaningful passing record ever. It’s silly to even attempt a contrarian argument for someone who’s the biggest name in the history of the sport. Tom Brady is an icon.
New Orleans Saints: QB Drew Brees
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Brees went from a promising upstart for the Chargers to an all-time luminary in New Orleans. A 12-time Pro Bowler with the Saints, the future Hall of Famer revitalized the franchise with its only championship and was thoroughly beloved by an entire city. He is viewed as perhaps the most accurate quarterback ever. The only man ahead of Brees in all-time completion percentage is Joe Burrow — and he’s only been around for three seasons.
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More than anyone, Taylor personified intimidation and fear in a football player. A tornado off the Giants’ defensive edge, Taylor wreaked havoc and devastation everywhere he stepped in between the lines. A no-doubt First Ballot of Famer, he more than earned his place on the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time team.
They didn’t call it “Revis Island” because he treated receivers to a relaxing tropical vacation. The quintessential shutdown corner, Revis took the top receiving matchup every Sunday and controlled one side of the field by himself. Seven Pro Bowl selections and four First-Team All-Honors don’t do perhaps the best lockdown corner the sport’s ever had proper justice.
Philadelphia Eagles: LB/C Chuck Bednarik
A literal throwback, Bednarik might have been the NFL’s last true “two-way” player. A 10-time First-Team All-Pro, Bednarik did it while playing center and linebacker for the majority of his career. These days, there’s a college football award named after him, rewarded to the annual best defensive player. They, unironically, do not make athletes like Bednarik anymore.
Pittsburgh Steelers: DT Joe Greene
The key cog of the “Steel Curtain,” it’s appropriate that Green was Chuck Noll’s first-ever draft pick in 1969. Greene went on to 10 Pro Bowl selections and two Defensive Player of the Awards and was the one real Pittsburgh constant en route to the team’s four Super Bowl championships in the 1970s.
San Francisco 49ers: WR Jerry Rice
A flawless picture of consistency, no one in NFL history has ever produced like the legendary Rice. A 12-time Pro Bowler in San Francisco, Rice had just four seasons with less than 1,000 receiving yards and averaged 13 touchdowns per season (read: averaged) during his first 11 years as a 49er. He holds every relevant receiving record ever and was a force for two decades. It’s difficult to see anyone ever surpassing. He’s Jerry Rice.
A stalwart during Mike Holmgren’s Seattle tenure, Jones quickly distinguished himself as a technician with marvelous athleticism. In 180 career starts over 12 seasons, the nine-time Pro Bowler allowed just 23 sacks and was penalized for holding in only nine instances. He was a brick wall.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: LB Derrick Brooks
The face and leading pioneer of the Cover 2 defense, Brooks was a one-man, well-oiled defensive machine. The 11-time Pro Bowler is third all-time in tackles (1,300), and he was no slouch in coverage either. His 25 career interceptions were emblematic of an off-ball linebacker with a penchant for a big play whenever he dropped back.
Tennessee Titans: QB Warren Moon
Yes, he technically played for the Oilers in an entirely different city, but it seemed unfair and unwise to leave Moon out of this picture based on that criteria. Moon didn’t play in the NFL until his late 20s, and it didn’t matter. A prolific passer with elite processing, he twice led the league in passing yards and was a nine-time Pro Bowler. On a better team, he might have even won that elusive Super Bowl. But a lack of a championship doesn’t diminish his laundry list of running accomplishments.
Washington Commanders: CB Darrell Green
Contrary to popular belief (mostly stemming from Dan Snyder’s incompetence), the Commanders once had a vibrant tradition of on-field brilliance. And Green was at the forefront. A seven-time Pro Bowler and four-time First-Team All-Pro, Green helmed one side of the Washington boundary for an astonishing two decades. His speed was legendary; running a 4.30-second 40-yard dash at the age of 50 — roughly 8 years after he retired. Green’s 54 interceptions are the most in franchise history, as are his 258 career starts.
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