Honorable Mention #4: Trent Green
There’s a large helping of irony to see Trent Green’s name on this list, given the way his career unfolded after the St. Louis Rams acquired him to become their starting quarterback. After infamously tearing his ACL prior to the start of the 1999 season, and watching his backup emerge as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, Dick Vermeil again brought over Green to be the starting quarterback of his team, when the former became the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Between 2001 and 2005, Green threw for at least 3,690 yards in every season (breaking the 4,000-yard passing mark three times), leading the Chiefs to double-digit wins in two of those seasons. He was named to the Pro Bowl twice in that five-year span as well.
Honorable Mention #3: Warren Moon
Sure, Warren Moon accumulated the majority of his statistics and accolades in the period of time that precedes the cutoff point for this list. But, let’s not overlook the mini-resurgence he had after he left Houston, playing a few seasons for the Minnesota Vikings and then one more with the Seattle Seahawks.
In his first two seasons in Minnesota (in 1994 and 1995), Moon threw for more than 4,200 yards in both years, and even had a whopping 33 touchdown passes in 1995. In 1997, playing for the Seahawks, he threw for 3,678 yards — despite being 41 years old. He made the Pro Bowl in each of those three seasons.