These UFL QBs could land NFL roles with breakout seasons in 2026
You never know where your favorite franchise is going to find their next weapon in the quarterback room. And with the 2026 UFL season starting in just over a week, let's take a look at a few signal callers who are looking to play their way into an NFL role this spring.
Matt Corral - Birmingham Stallions
Corral was drafted out of Ole Miss by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but a foot injury ended his rookie year in the league in the preseason. He made the 53-man roster in 2023 for the Panthers but was soon waived. He was claimed off waivers by the Patriots, but lasted less than a month with the franchise.
He landed in the UFL with Birmingham in 2024 and played in six games, posting a 3-0 record as a starter, passing for 494 yards and two touchdowns. He signed with and was quickly waived by the Vikings the following fall before returning to the UFL last year – he made three appearances and two starts in 2025, going 2-0 as the starter and finishing the season with 648 yards and four touchdowns.
This season, he is likely set to inherit a full-time starting job for the first time in the UFL and could make his way back to the NFL with consistent play.
Hunter Dekkers , Houston Gamblers
Dekkers is no stranger to adversity. After starting at Iowa State in 2022, he was among seven players in the program indicted on records tampering charges related to underage use of the gambling platform DraftKings. He sat out the 2023 season while an NCAA appeal for reinstatement was denied before leading JUCO program Iowa Western to an 11-2 record and a National Championship appearance in 2024.
The Saints invited him to a rookie minicamp last offseason before signing him as an undrafted free agent, and he spent the entire season on the franchise's practice squad. Now, he's getting his shot at the UFL, and a strong performance could land him an active roster role in the NFL next season. And you have to assume he has the chops, or the Saints wouldn't have kept him around last year.
Jason Bean
Bean went undrafted in the NFL in 2024 after a strong final season at Kansas, where he was set to be the backup but ended up starting nine games in relief of an injured Jalon Daniels and passing for 2,130 yards, 18 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
He was selected in the 2024 UFL Draft but would forego the league to sign with the Colts and spent the 2024 season on the franchise's practice squad before being waived in 2025. Now, he'll be another player this spring getting his first real opportunity to see game action at the pro level in the UFL, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him earn an NFL opportunity if things go well.
This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: These UFL QBs could land NFL roles with breakout seasons in 2026
