Winning a Super Bowl is the dream of any player who comes into the NFL. This can ring especially true with quarterbacks, the perceived face of the franchise. Leading a team to championship glory can also cement one’s own legacy as one of the greatest passers to ever play the game.
Though many of the all-time greats have won the Super Bowl, there are many legendary quarterbacks who ultimately fell short. Whether they’re current NFL players who haven’t gotten over the hump, or they’re retired legends with one glaring omission in a successful resume, there are plenty of great quarterbacks to have never won a Super Bowl.
Today, we’re going to take a stroll down memory lane and look at the 10 greatest NFL quarterbacks to have never won a Super Bowl.
10) Ken Anderson
The pride and joy of Augustana College, Ken Anderson went from an NAIA All-American to arguably the best quarterback the Cincinnati Bengals have ever had. Over the course of his 16-year NFL career, he started in 172 games for the Bengals, winning 91 of them. He was a four-time Pro Bowler and was the 1981 NFL MVP.
During his time in the league, Anderson led the NFL in passing yards twice, completion percentage three times, and passer rating four times. He led Cincinnati to a Super Bowl appearance during his MVP year in 1981, but they lost to the San Francisco 49ers. Anderson remains one of the best quarterbacks not only to have not won the Super Bowl, but to have not made it into the Hall of Fame, though his time for the latter could come.
9) Cam Newton
When Cam Newton was healthy and at his peak, he was one of the most exciting dual-threat quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen. A three-time Pro Bowler and the 2015 NFL MVP, Â Newton has the third-most rushing yards of any quarterback with 5,631 over his 11-year career. His 75 rushing touchdowns rank second at the position, too.
Though his career completion percentage was sub-60%, his elite athleticism, hulking frame, and powerful arm made him a force to be reckoned with. The Carolina Panthers made a Super Bowl appearance with Newton in the aforementioned MVP season, but they lost to the Denver Broncos. His reign at the top was short, but it was incredibly impactful.
8) Warren Moon
Warren Moon’s story to NFL stardom remains one of the most unique in league history. After graduating college, he spent six seasons in the Canadian Football League due to a lack of interest from NFL teams, winning the Grey Cup five times. His success in the CFL earned him a contract with the Houston Oilers, for whom he’d go on to be the starting quarterback for ten seasons.
In spite of spending six years in Canada, Moon still went on to play a whopping 17 seasons in the NFL, retiring at 44 years old. He was a nine-time Pro Bowler and led the league in passing yards twice, and he finished as the 1991 Offensive Player of the Year. Though a Super Bowl win alluded him, his success story and longevity remain impeccable.
7) Dan Fouts
In an era where passing wasn’t as important as it is today, Dan Fouts was a trailblazer in the San Diego Chargers’ Air Coryell offense throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He was the first player in NFL history to throw for over 4,000 yards in three consecutive seasons, doing so from 1979 to 1981 and leading the league in passing each time.
Fouts spent all 15 seasons of his professional career with the Chargers, starting in a total of 171 games. He was a six-time Pro Bowler and a four-time All-Pro. As productive as he was, San Diego wasn’t able to get over the hump in his day, making the AFC Championship twice but losing both games.
6) Matt Ryan
Had it not been for the infamous 28-3 deficit that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots came back from, Matt Ryan would have an easy way out of making this list. However, the Atlanta Falcons’ Super Bowl collapse means that Ryan will go down as one of the best quarterbacks to have never won it all. In spite of that, he still had an incredible career.
Ryan was a 15-year starter in the NFL, spending all but one of those years with the Falcons. He was a four-time Pro Bowler and won the 2016 NFL MVP in a season which saw Atlanta make that Super Bowl appearance. All told, he ranks ninth in league history with 62,792 career passing yards and tenth with 381 career passing touchdowns.
5) Fran Tarkenton
Arguably the first great dual-threat quarterback the NFL ever saw, Fran Tarkenton was as good with his legs as he was with his arm. He started 18 seasons in the league, between two separate stints with the Minnesota Vikings and a five-year run with the New York Giants. In that time, he made nine Pro Bowls and was the NFL MVP in 1975.
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Tarkenton evolved from a scrambling-heavy passer into a high-volume quarterback as his career progressed, but his athleticism also added a tremendous element to his game that made him tough to defend. When he retired after the 1978 season, he held the NFL’s all-time records in passing yards, touchdowns, and completions.
4) Josh Allen
There’s still time for Josh Allen to remove himself from this list, and the Buffalo Bills’ hope is that firing Sean McDermott and promoting Joe Brady to head coach will give them the spark they need to finally win the AFC and become the best team in the NFL. For now, though, Allen remains one of the greatest quarterbacks to never win a Super Bowl.
Allen’s in the prime of his career, but one could certainly argue he’s a Hall of Famer based on what he’s already accomplished. A four-time Pro Bowler and the 2024 NFL MVP, he has one of the strongest arms in NFL history and has an 88-39 record since becoming the starting quarterback of the Bills. He’s had at least a top-10 grade by PFN QB Impact Scoring every year since 2020, showing off just how good he’s been this decade.
3) Philip Rivers
Philip Rivers will have to wait a little longer to see himself inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after coming out of retirement to play for the Indianapolis Colts in 2025. His time will come, though, as he was an eight-time Pro Bowler with the Chargers who spent 16 seasons there between their time in San Diego and Los Angeles.
In 18 total seasons, Rivers surpassed the 4,000-yard passing mark 12 times, doing so in each of his final eight seasons before his initial retirement after the 2020 season. Once he took over from Drew Brees as the Chargers’ starting quarterback in 2006, they were a constant presence in the AFC playoff scene. Though they never won a Super Bowl under Rivers, he made his presence felt as one of the best passers of the 21st century.
2) Lamar Jackson
One could strongly argue that Lamar Jackson would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer if he retired today, and he’s not even 30 years old yet. He’s the only two-time NFL MVP on this list; he’s a three-time first-team All-Pro; he has the best career passer rating in NFL history at 102.2, and his 6,522 career rushing yards are the most ever by a quarterback.
Despite this success, the Baltimore Ravens haven’t made it past the AFC Championship Game under Jackson. There’s plenty of time for him to capture that Super Bowl, though. Jackson is arguably the greatest rushing quarterback the NFL has ever seen, and his growth as a passer should mean he’ll remain elite for years to come. He’s led the NFL in PFN QB Impact Scoring twice in his career; don’t be shocked if he eventually does it again.
1) Dan Marino
Dan Marino is one of the greatest quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen, and to this day, he’s the best quarterback to have never won a Super Bowl. In 17 years as a starter for the Miami Dolphins, he was a nine-time Pro Bowler, a six-time All-Pro, the 1984 NFL MVP, and he led the league in passing yards five times, the second-most times by a single player in league history.
The partnership of Marino and head coach Don Shula took the Dolphins to the Super Bowl twice, but they lost both times. Marino never ended up capturing that elusive championship win, but he retired after the 1999 season as one of the greatest to ever do it. Â His 1984 season marked the first time an NFL quarterback ever reached 5,000 passing yards in a single season; his dominance for his era was unparalleled.
