Who are the all-time leading passers in NFL history?

UPDATE: Tom Brady has broken Drew Brees’ passing yardage record. Brady did the deed on a 28-yard pass to Mike Evans at the 6:10 mark of the first quarter of Week 4 Sunday Night Football. The Bucs were in a hurry-up offense so there was no time for any significant stoppage in play to honor the QB.

As if there already wasn’t enough hype surrounding Tom Brady’s return to Foxborough when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the New England Patriots this Sunday, there’s also history to be made.

Barring a complete dud of a performance, Brady is set to become the NFL’s all-time career passing yards leader in the contest. At 80,291 yards for his career, he needs just 68 to pass the mark of 80,358 set by Drew Brees. Brady has technically held the record before with him and Brees trading it back and forth last season. With Brees now retired however, the Bucs QB would stand alone with a chance to pad his stats for however long he decides to strap his pads on.

To get a scope for how impressive this accomplishment is, let’s take a look at the Top 10 all-time leading passers in NFL history.

1. Drew Brees - 80,358 (2001-2020)
2. Tom Brady - 80,291 (2000-present)
3. Peyton Manning - 71,940 (1998-2015)
4. Brett Favre - 71,838 (1991-2010)
5. Philip Rivers - 63,440 (2004-2020)
6. Dan Marino - 61,361 (1983-1999)
7. Ben Roethlisberger - 61,149 (2004-present)
8. Eli Manning - 57,023 (2004-2019)
9. Matt Ryan 56,474 (2008-present)
10. Aaron Rodgers 51,894 (2005-present)

What immediately jumps out from the list is how the NFL has shifted towards a pass-happy league over the last two decades. Every quarterback in the Top 10 with the exception of Dan Marino has played since the year 2000 with four being active QB’s in the league and seven playing within the last two seasons. Longevity is also a must with every quarterback on the list playing at least 14 seasons. Matt Ryan is on the low end of the spectrum having entered the league in 2008, but people have questioned how much he has left in the tank.

Barring Ryan, Roethlisberger, Rodgers, or No. 16 Matthew Stafford deciding to play well into their 40s, Brady would theoretically have a grip on the record for a long time. The current young face of the league Patrick Mahomes sits at 151st with 15,092 career passing yards while Lamar Jackson is 227th with 7,846. Brady could etch his face at the top of the quarterback record books for an entire generation on Sunday.