Peyton Manning holds the NFL record for the most passing yards in a single season with 5,477 for the Denver Broncos in 2013. Drew Brees is second with 5,476 in 2011, and Tom Brady is third with 5,316 in 2021.
This leaderboard covers regular-season passing yards through the completed 2025 season. Postseason totals are not included. The 32 seasons are grouped into the seven tiers shown in the graphics, beginning with Tier 7 and building toward the record holders in Tier 1.
Passing yards measure volume, durability and the responsibility placed on a quarterback, but they do not settle every argument about quarterback play. Efficiency, touchdowns, turnovers and team results still matter when comparing the best quarterbacks of all time.
How This Single-Season Passing Yards Leaderboard Works
The ranking is based on official regular-season passing-yard totals. It is not adjusted for games played, era or pace. Tied yardage totals share the same rank, which is why Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger are both No. 17 with 4,952 yards in 2014.
Schedule length is important context. Dan Marino, Peyton Manning and most of Drew Brees’ entries came in 16-game seasons. The NFL expanded to 17 games in 2021, so Brady’s 2021 season, Patrick Mahomes’ 2022 season and Joe Burrow’s 2024 season had one additional scheduled game.
The latest completed season did not change this top 32. Matthew Stafford led the league with 4,707 passing yards in 2025, leaving him below the graphic’s 4,806-yard cutoff.
Yardage alone can also hide major differences between seasons. Completion percentage, yards per attempt and touchdown-to-interception production help explain whether the volume came with efficiency. The same distinction matters when examining the highest career passer ratings in NFL history.
Tier 7: 4,806 to 4,886 Passing Yards
Tier 7 of the most passing yards in a single season ranking, featuring Matthew Stafford, Drew Brees, Patrick Mahomes, Kurt Warner, Tom Brady, and Deshaun Watson.
Tier 7 contains seven seasons separated by only 80 yards. The group includes two league MVP years, three seasons that ended in the Super Bowl and one campaign produced in only 15 games.
Matthew Stafford: 4,886 Passing Yards in 2021
Season snapshot: 4,886 passing yards, 41 touchdown passes, 17 interceptions and a Super Bowl championship with the Los Angeles Rams.
Stafford’s first Rams season paired heavy volume with the aggressive throws Los Angeles wanted when it traded for him. He averaged 8.1 yards per attempt while Cooper Kupp won the receiving triple crown. The interceptions kept the regular season from being as efficient as the top MVP campaigns, but 41 touchdown passes and a championship finish gave the production real weight.
Drew Brees: 4,870 Passing Yards in 2015
Season snapshot: 4,870 passing yards, 32 touchdown passes, 11 interceptions and a 68.3% completion rate with the New Orleans Saints.
Brees led the NFL in passing yards despite playing 15 games. That made his 324.7 yards per game the important number behind the total. New Orleans finished 7-9, but Brees still sustained a high-volume offense after missing one start with a shoulder injury. His repeated presence on this list helps explain why he sits first in any discussion of the greatest Saints players.
Patrick Mahomes: 4,839 Passing Yards in 2021
Season snapshot: 4,839 passing yards, 37 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kansas City opened the season unevenly as defenses increasingly used two-high safety structures to limit explosive plays. Mahomes and the offense adjusted well enough to win the AFC West and reach a fourth consecutive AFC Championship Game. His 658 attempts remain the highest total of his career, making this the clearest volume-driven entry among his three seasons on the leaderboard.
Kurt Warner: 4,830 Passing Yards in 2001
Season snapshot: 4,830 passing yards, 36 touchdown passes, 22 interceptions and the NFL MVP award with the St. Louis Rams.
Warner led the league in passing yards, touchdown passes, completion percentage, yards per attempt and passer rating. The 22 interceptions were the obvious blemish, but the Rams still went 14-2 and reached Super Bowl XXXVI. His 8.8 yards per attempt separates this season from many later entries built with substantially more throws.
Tom Brady: 4,827 Passing Yards in 2012
Season snapshot: 4,827 passing yards and 34 touchdown passes with the New England Patriots.
New England played at extreme tempo and led the NFL with 557 points. Brady spread the ball through a flexible offense featuring Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and a productive group of running backs. The Patriots reached the AFC Championship Game, but this season is sometimes overlooked because it sits between Brady’s 5,235-yard 2011 campaign and his 2007 MVP peak.
Deshaun Watson: 4,823 Passing Yards in 2020
Season snapshot: 4,823 passing yards, 33 touchdown passes, seven interceptions and a 70.2% completion rate with the Houston Texans.
Watson led the NFL in passing yards and yards per attempt at 8.9 even though Houston finished 4-12. The gap between his individual efficiency and the team’s record is why wins cannot be used as a shortcut for evaluating a quarterback season. He reached this total on 544 attempts, fewer than every other player in the top 32 except Matt Ryan in 2016.
Tom Brady: 4,806 Passing Yards in 2007
Season snapshot: 4,806 passing yards, 50 touchdown passes, eight interceptions and the NFL MVP award with the New England Patriots.
Brady’s touchdown total, not his yardage rank, is what made 2007 transformative. His connection with Randy Moss produced 23 touchdowns, and New England became the first team to complete a 16-0 regular season. This was also the franchise passing-yard record until Brady surpassed it in 2011, a progression shown in the Patriots’ all-time passing leaders.
Tier 6: 4,900 to 4,944 Passing Yards
Tier 6 of the most passing yards in a single season ranking, featuring Matt Ryan, Eli Manning, Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins, Tony Romo, and Dak Prescott.
Only 42 yards separate the seven entries in Tier 6. The group shows how different similar yardage totals can be, ranging from Matt Ryan’s efficient MVP season to the attempt-heavy years produced by Tony Romo and Kirk Cousins.
Matt Ryan: 4,944 Passing Yards in 2016
Season snapshot: 4,944 passing yards, 38 touchdown passes, seven interceptions and the NFL MVP award with the Atlanta Falcons.
Ryan averaged 9.3 yards per attempt and posted a 117.1 passer rating while directing Kyle Shanahan’s offense. Both figures matter because he reached this yardage on only 534 attempts, the fewest of any season in the top 32. Atlanta also advanced to Super Bowl LI, giving Ryan the strongest combination of efficiency and team success in this tier.
Eli Manning: 4,933 Passing Yards in 2011
Season snapshot: 4,933 passing yards, 29 touchdown passes, 16 interceptions and a Super Bowl championship with the New York Giants.
Manning set a Giants franchise record for passing yards and led seven fourth-quarter game-winning drives during the regular season. New York entered the playoffs at 9-7, then won four postseason games. The Super Bowl run does not count toward the 4,933 yards, but it explains why this season carries more significance than a standard volume year.
Matt Ryan: 4,924 Passing Yards in 2018
Season snapshot: 4,924 passing yards, 35 touchdown passes, seven interceptions and a 69.4% completion rate with the Atlanta Falcons.
Ryan’s second top-32 season was statistically close to his MVP year. His 35-to-7 touchdown-to-interception line and 108.1 passer rating were excellent, but Atlanta slipped to 7-9. The contrast between Ryan’s two entries is another reminder that a quarterback can maintain strong production while the results around him change sharply.
Joe Burrow: 4,918 Passing Yards in 2024
Season snapshot: 4,918 passing yards, 43 touchdown passes, nine interceptions and a 70.6% completion rate with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Burrow led the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns while setting Bengals single-season records in attempts, completions, yards and touchdown passes. Cincinnati missed the playoffs despite his late-season surge, which kept him from pairing the numbers with a postseason run. The season still strengthened his place among the best players in Bengals history.
Kirk Cousins: 4,917 Passing Yards in 2016
Season snapshot: 4,917 passing yards, 25 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and a 67.0% completion rate with Washington.
Cousins set Washington’s single-season passing-yard record while averaging 8.1 yards per attempt. His 25 touchdowns are the fewest attached to any season in this top 32 other than Stafford’s 20 in 2012. That gap illustrates how yardage can pile up between the 20-yard lines without producing an equally high scoring total.
Tony Romo: 4,903 Passing Yards in 2012
Season snapshot: 4,903 passing yards, 28 touchdown passes and 19 interceptions with the Dallas Cowboys.
Romo attempted 648 passes as Dallas leaned on him to compensate for an inconsistent running game and defense. The Cowboys finished 8-8 after losing a winner-take-all Week 17 game. His yardage remained the franchise’s single-season record for seven years, and he still ranks prominently among the Cowboys’ career passing-yard leaders.
Dak Prescott: 4,902 Passing Yards in 2019
Season snapshot: 4,902 passing yards, 30 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions with the Dallas Cowboys.
Prescott finished one yard behind Romo’s 2012 total. Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb each topped 800 receiving yards, giving Dallas three reliable targets at different levels of the field. The offense finished first in total yards, but an 8-8 record showed the familiar divide between impressive production and uneven weekly results.
Tier 5: 4,950 to 5,038 Passing Yards
Tier 5 of the most passing yards in a single season ranking, featuring Matthew Stafford, Justin Herbert, Drew Brees, and Ben Roethlisberger.
Tier 5 straddles the 5,000-yard line. Stafford and Herbert cleared it, while Brees, Roethlisberger and Stafford’s 2012 season finished within 50 yards of the benchmark.
Matthew Stafford: 5,038 Passing Yards in 2011
Season snapshot: 5,038 passing yards, 41 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions with the Detroit Lions.
Stafford played all 16 games after injuries had limited him to 13 total appearances over his first two seasons. Calvin Johnson supplied 1,681 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns, while Stafford attempted 663 passes. Detroit reached the playoffs for the first time since the 1999 season, making this a genuine breakout for both the quarterback and the franchise.
Justin Herbert: 5,014 Passing Yards in 2021
Season snapshot: 5,014 passing yards, 38 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Herbert joined the 5,000-yard club in his second NFL season. The extra game helped, but 38 touchdowns and a 97.7 passer rating show that the total was more than schedule-driven volume. His early production already places him prominently in the Chargers’ all-time player discussion, even though the team missed the playoffs in a Week 18 overtime loss.
Matthew Stafford: 4,967 Passing Yards in 2012
Season snapshot: 4,967 passing yards, 20 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions with the Detroit Lions.
Stafford attempted 727 passes, an NFL record at the time and still one of the highest single-season totals. Detroit often played from behind during a 4-12 season, creating volume without the touchdown efficiency of Stafford’s 2011 campaign. The result is the clearest example on this list of how game script can inflate passing attempts.
Drew Brees: 4,952 Passing Yards in 2014
Season snapshot: 4,952 passing yards, 33 touchdown passes, 17 interceptions and a 69.2% completion rate with the New Orleans Saints.
Brees tied Roethlisberger for the league lead in passing yards, the only exact tie in the top 32. He completed 456 passes, keeping the Saints’ offense productive even as the team fell to 7-9. A difference of only 48 yards kept this from becoming Brees’ sixth 5,000-yard season.
Ben Roethlisberger: 4,952 Passing Yards in 2014
Season snapshot: 4,952 passing yards, 32 touchdown passes and nine interceptions with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Roethlisberger matched Brees while throwing 51 fewer attempts and averaging 8.1 yards per pass. He also became the first quarterback to throw six touchdown passes in consecutive games. Antonio Brown’s 1,698 receiving yards drove the attack, and the season remains one of the defining entries on the Steelers’ all-time passing leaderboard.
Tier 4: 5,050 to 5,129 Passing Yards
Tier 4 of the most passing yards in a single season ranking, featuring Ben Roethlisberger, Jameis Winston, Patrick Mahomes, Dan Marino, and Drew Brees.
Every Tier 4 quarterback cleared 5,000 yards. The group includes the first player ever to reach that mark, two MVP seasons and one of the most volatile statistical campaigns in league history.
Ben Roethlisberger: 5,129 Passing Yards in 2018
Season snapshot: 5,129 passing yards, 34 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Roethlisberger led the NFL in passing yards, completions and attempts. Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster combined for 2,723 receiving yards, giving Pittsburgh enough firepower to keep throwing at a league-high rate. The Steelers missed the playoffs at 9-6-1, so the season stands as both Roethlisberger’s yardage peak and a warning against treating volume as a complete team measure.
Jameis Winston: 5,109 Passing Yards in 2019
Season snapshot: 5,109 passing yards, 33 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
No other 5,000-yard season looks like Winston’s. He led the NFL in passing yards and threw for at least 300 yards in 11 games, but he also became the first quarterback to throw 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season. Bruce Arians’ aggressive downfield offense produced major gains and major mistakes, often within the same game.
Patrick Mahomes: 5,097 Passing Yards in 2018
Season snapshot: 5,097 passing yards, 50 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and the NFL MVP award with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Mahomes reached 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in his first full season as a starter. He needed only 580 attempts, 46 fewer than Winston and 95 fewer than Roethlisberger in the two nearby entries. The season began his rapid climb up the Chiefs’ all-time passing leaderboard and took Kansas City to the AFC Championship Game.
Dan Marino: 5,084 Passing Yards in 1984
Season snapshot: 5,084 passing yards, 48 touchdown passes, 17 interceptions and the NFL MVP award with the Miami Dolphins.
Marino became the first quarterback to throw for 5,000 yards, and he did it on only 564 attempts. His yardage record lasted until Brees passed it in 2011, while his touchdown record stood until 2004. The era, efficiency and record-setting distance from his peers make 1984 one of the strongest cases for Marino’s place among the greatest Dolphins players.
Drew Brees: 5,069 Passing Yards in 2008
Season snapshot: 5,069 passing yards, 34 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions with the New Orleans Saints.
Brees became only the second quarterback to reach 5,000 yards and finished 15 yards short of Marino’s record. He spread 635 attempts across an offense that used Lance Moore, Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Reggie Bush and several tight ends. New Orleans finished 8-8, but the passing structure that later powered the franchise’s best seasons was already in place.
Tier 3: 5,150 to 5,250 Passing Yards
Tier 3 of the most passing yards in a single season ranking, featuring Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, and Drew Brees.
Tier 3 is where repeated excellence becomes the story. Brees owns three of the five spots, while Brady and Mahomes add seasons built around very different offensive personnel.
Patrick Mahomes: 5,250 Passing Yards in 2022
Season snapshot: 5,250 passing yards, 41 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions, the NFL MVP award and a Super Bowl championship with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Mahomes led the NFL in yards and touchdown passes after Kansas City traded Tyreek Hill. He responded by distributing the ball more widely while keeping Travis Kelce at the center of the offense. The combination of a league lead in both major passing categories, MVP and a Super Bowl win gives this season the best complete résumé among the 17-game entries.
Tom Brady: 5,235 Passing Yards in 2011
Season snapshot: 5,235 passing yards, 39 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions with the New England Patriots.
Brady broke Marino’s old yardage record but finished second because Brees reset the mark in the same season. New England attacked the middle of the field with Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker, creating difficult personnel matchups without relying on a traditional outside-receiver structure. The Patriots finished 13-3 and reached Super Bowl XLVI.
Drew Brees: 5,208 Passing Yards in 2016
Season snapshot: 5,208 passing yards, 37 touchdown passes, 15 interceptions and a 70.0% completion rate with the New Orleans Saints.
Brees led the NFL in passing yards for the seventh and final time. Brandin Cooks and rookie Michael Thomas both topped 1,100 receiving yards, giving him two targets who could win at different depths. New Orleans again finished 7-9, but Brees’ combination of 673 attempts and 70% completions kept the passing game among the league’s most dependable units.
Drew Brees: 5,177 Passing Yards in 2012
Season snapshot: 5,177 passing yards, 43 touchdown passes and 19 interceptions with the New Orleans Saints.
Brees led the league in both passing yards and touchdown passes during a turbulent season in New Orleans. His 670 attempts were the second most in the NFL that year, and the high interception total reflected how aggressively the Saints had to play. This was also the middle season in Brees’ run of three consecutive 5,000-yard campaigns from 2011 through 2013.
Drew Brees: 5,162 Passing Yards in 2013
Season snapshot: 5,162 passing yards, 39 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions with the New Orleans Saints.
Brees completed 68.6% of his passes and posted a 104.7 passer rating, a major efficiency improvement from 2012. Jimmy Graham supplied 1,215 receiving yards and a league-leading 16 touchdown catches. The Saints returned to the playoffs and won a road postseason game for the first time in franchise history.
Tier 2: 5,300+ Passing Yards
Tier 2 of the most passing yards in a single season ranking, featuring Tom Brady.
Only one season occupies Tier 2. Brady’s 2021 total is the highest of the 17-game era, but he still finished more than 160 yards behind the two Tier 1 records.
Tom Brady: 5,316 Passing Yards in 2021
Season snapshot: 5,316 passing yards, 43 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and a 67.5% completion rate with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brady led the NFL in passing yards, touchdown passes, completions and attempts at age 44. The extra game helped him become the first player after Manning and Brees to cross 5,300 yards, but leading all four volume categories still required remarkable durability. Tampa Bay went 13-4 before losing to the eventual champion Rams in the divisional round.
Tier 1: 5,450+ Passing Yards
Tier 1 of the most passing yards in a single season ranking, featuring Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.
The top two seasons are separated by one yard. Both came in 16 games, and both quarterbacks averaged 342.3 passing yards per game.
Peyton Manning: 5,477 Passing Yards in 2013
Season snapshot: 5,477 passing yards, 55 touchdown passes, 10 interceptions and the NFL MVP award with the Denver Broncos.
Manning set the yardage and touchdown records while completing 68.3% of 659 attempts. Denver scored 606 points, and Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Wes Welker and Julius Thomas each caught at least 10 touchdown passes. The depth of that receiving group let Manning identify the favorable matchup before the snap and punish defenses regardless of coverage.
The record was confirmed at 5,477 after the league reviewed a Week 17 lateral, leaving Manning one yard ahead of Brees. The NFL’s review of Manning’s record explains why that final yard received unusual scrutiny.
Drew Brees: 5,476 Passing Yards in 2011
Season snapshot: 5,476 passing yards, 46 touchdown passes, 14 interceptions and a 71.2% completion rate with the New Orleans Saints.
Brees broke Marino’s 27-year-old record and held the new mark for two seasons. He led the league in yards, touchdowns and completion percentage while averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. The Saints went 13-3, scored 547 points and set a then-NFL record with 7,474 total yards.
His five 5,000-yard seasons remain the most by any quarterback. That repeatability is what separates Brees from every other high-volume passer on the complete single-season passing-yard leaderboard.
Full Single-Season Passing Yards Table
The table extends beyond the 32 seasons shown in the graphics to the top 100 regular-season passing performances through 2025. Team abbreviations are used to keep the five-column table readable on mobile.
| Rank | Player | Passing Yards | Season | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peyton Manning | 5,477 | 2013 | DEN |
| 2 | Drew Brees | 5,476 | 2011 | NO |
| 3 | Tom Brady | 5,316 | 2021 | TB |
| 4 | Patrick Mahomes | 5,250 | 2022 | KC |
| 5 | Tom Brady | 5,235 | 2011 | NE |
| 6 | Drew Brees | 5,208 | 2016 | NO |
| 7 | Drew Brees | 5,177 | 2012 | NO |
| 8 | Drew Brees | 5,162 | 2013 | NO |
| 9 | Ben Roethlisberger | 5,129 | 2018 | PIT |
| 10 | Jameis Winston | 5,109 | 2019 | TB |
| 11 | Patrick Mahomes | 5,097 | 2018 | KC |
| 12 | Dan Marino | 5,084 | 1984 | MIA |
| 13 | Drew Brees | 5,069 | 2008 | NO |
| 14 | Matthew Stafford | 5,038 | 2011 | DET |
| 15 | Justin Herbert | 5,014 | 2021 | LAC |
| 16 | Matthew Stafford | 4,967 | 2012 | DET |
| 17 | Drew Brees | 4,952 | 2014 | NO |
| 17 | Ben Roethlisberger | 4,952 | 2014 | PIT |
| 19 | Matt Ryan | 4,944 | 2016 | ATL |
| 20 | Eli Manning | 4,933 | 2011 | NYG |
| 21 | Matt Ryan | 4,924 | 2018 | ATL |
| 22 | Joe Burrow | 4,918 | 2024 | CIN |
| 23 | Kirk Cousins | 4,917 | 2016 | WAS |
| 24 | Tony Romo | 4,903 | 2012 | DAL |
| 25 | Dak Prescott | 4,902 | 2019 | DAL |
| 26 | Matthew Stafford | 4,886 | 2021 | LAR |
| 27 | Drew Brees | 4,870 | 2015 | NO |
| 28 | Patrick Mahomes | 4,839 | 2021 | KC |
| 29 | Kurt Warner | 4,830 | 2001 | STL |
| 30 | Tom Brady | 4,827 | 2012 | NE |
| 31 | Deshaun Watson | 4,823 | 2020 | HOU |
| 32 | Tom Brady | 4,806 | 2007 | NE |
| 33 | Derek Carr | 4,804 | 2021 | LV |
| 34 | Dan Fouts | 4,802 | 1981 | SD |
| 35 | Philip Rivers | 4,792 | 2015 | SD |
| 36 | Tom Brady | 4,770 | 2015 | NE |
| 36 | Matt Schaub | 4,770 | 2009 | HOU |
| 38 | Andrew Luck | 4,761 | 2014 | IND |
| 39 | Dan Marino | 4,746 | 1986 | MIA |
| 40 | Patrick Mahomes | 4,740 | 2020 | KC |
| 41 | Justin Herbert | 4,739 | 2022 | LAC |
| 42 | Peyton Manning | 4,727 | 2014 | DEN |
| 43 | Matt Ryan | 4,719 | 2012 | ATL |
| 44 | Daunte Culpepper | 4,717 | 2004 | MIN |
| 45 | Dan Fouts | 4,715 | 1980 | SD |
| 46 | Philip Rivers | 4,710 | 2010 | SD |
| 47 | Matthew Stafford | 4,707 | 2025 | LAR |
| 48 | Peyton Manning | 4,700 | 2010 | IND |
| 49 | Tom Brady | 4,694 | 2022 | TB |
| 49 | Matt Ryan | 4,694 | 2014 | ATL |
| 51 | Warren Moon | 4,690 | 1991 | HOU |
| 52 | Rich Gannon | 4,689 | 2002 | OAK |
| 52 | Warren Moon | 4,689 | 1990 | HOU |
| 54 | Jared Goff | 4,688 | 2018 | LAR |
| 55 | Carson Palmer | 4,671 | 2015 | ARI |
| 56 | Peyton Manning | 4,659 | 2012 | DEN |
| 57 | Matthew Stafford | 4,650 | 2013 | DET |
| 58 | Aaron Rodgers | 4,643 | 2011 | GB |
| 59 | Jared Goff | 4,638 | 2019 | LAR |
| 60 | Tom Brady | 4,633 | 2020 | TB |
| 61 | Jared Goff | 4,629 | 2024 | DET |
| 62 | Philip Rivers | 4,624 | 2011 | SD |
| 62 | Tua Tagovailoa | 4,624 | 2023 | MIA |
| 64 | Drew Brees | 4,620 | 2010 | NO |
| 65 | Philip Rivers | 4,615 | 2019 | LAC |
| 66 | Neil Lomax | 4,614 | 1984 | STL |
| 67 | Joe Burrow | 4,611 | 2021 | CIN |
| 68 | Andrew Luck | 4,593 | 2018 | IND |
| 69 | Trent Green | 4,591 | 2004 | KC |
| 69 | Matt Ryan | 4,591 | 2015 | ATL |
| 71 | Kurt Warner | 4,583 | 2008 | ARI |
| 72 | Matt Ryan | 4,581 | 2020 | ATL |
| 73 | Tom Brady | 4,577 | 2017 | NE |
| 74 | Jared Goff | 4,575 | 2023 | DET |
| 75 | Jared Goff | 4,564 | 2025 | DET |
| 76 | Peyton Manning | 4,557 | 2004 | IND |
| 77 | Drew Bledsoe | 4,555 | 1994 | NE |
| 78 | Dak Prescott | 4,552 | 2025 | DAL |
| 79 | Kirk Cousins | 4,547 | 2022 | MIN |
| 80 | Josh Allen | 4,544 | 2020 | BUF |
| 81 | Jay Cutler | 4,526 | 2008 | DEN |
| 82 | Dak Prescott | 4,516 | 2023 | DAL |
| 83 | Philip Rivers | 4,515 | 2017 | LAC |
| 83 | Matt Ryan | 4,515 | 2013 | ATL |
| 85 | Peyton Manning | 4,500 | 2009 | IND |
| 85 | Baker Mayfield | 4,500 | 2024 | TB |
| 87 | Tony Romo | 4,483 | 2009 | DAL |
| 88 | Philip Rivers | 4,478 | 2013 | SD |
| 89 | Joe Burrow | 4,475 | 2022 | CIN |
| 90 | Matt Ryan | 4,466 | 2019 | ATL |
| 91 | Lynn Dickey | 4,458 | 1983 | GB |
| 92 | Dan Marino | 4,453 | 1994 | MIA |
| 93 | Dak Prescott | 4,449 | 2021 | DAL |
| 94 | Matthew Stafford | 4,446 | 2017 | DET |
| 95 | Aaron Rodgers | 4,442 | 2018 | GB |
| 96 | Jared Goff | 4,438 | 2022 | DET |
| 97 | Steve Beuerlein | 4,436 | 1999 | CAR |
| 98 | Dan Marino | 4,434 | 1988 | MIA |
| 98 | Aaron Rodgers | 4,434 | 2009 | GB |
| 100 | Eli Manning | 4,432 | 2015 | NYG |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many quarterbacks have thrown for 5,000 yards in a season?
Nine quarterbacks have produced at least one 5,000-yard regular season: Dan Marino, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Patrick Mahomes, Jameis Winston and Justin Herbert. Together, they account for 15 such seasons.
Who has the most 5,000-yard passing seasons?
Drew Brees has the most with five. He reached the mark in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016. Brady and Mahomes are next with two each.
Does the NFL record include playoff passing yards?
No. The recognized single-season record includes regular-season games only. Manning’s 5,477 yards in 2013 do not include the 910 yards he added during Denver’s three playoff games.
What is the highest passing-yard total in the 17-game era?
Brady’s 5,316 yards in 2021 are the highest total since the NFL adopted a 17-game regular season. Mahomes is next in that era with 5,250 yards in 2022.
Which quarterback has the most appearances in this top 32?
Brees appears six times, one more than his five 5,000-yard seasons because his 4,952-yard 2014 campaign also makes the list. Brady appears four times, while Mahomes and Stafford appear three times each.
Conclusion
Manning’s 5,477-yard record has survived the transition from 16 to 17 games, but Brees’ one-yard deficit remains almost as striking. Brees also owns the leaderboard’s deepest résumé, with six top-32 entries and five seasons above 5,000 yards.
The best context comes from reading the yards beside attempts, efficiency and team results. Marino reached 5,084 yards in 1984 on only 564 attempts, Ryan nearly reached 5,000 in 2016 on 534, and several later quarterbacks needed more than 650. The totals belong on one leaderboard, but the paths to them were not the same.
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