quarterback

thumb|Seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady in a 2019 game at the Washington Redskins The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who is a member of the offensive side of the ball and usually lines up directly behind the offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the offense, and is often responsible for calling the play in the huddle. The quarterback also touches the ball on almost every offensive play, and is almost always the offensive player that throws forward passes. When the QB is tackled behind the line of scrimmage, it is called a sack. The position is also colloquially known as the "signal caller" and "field general". The quarterback is widely considered the most important position in American football, and one of the most important positions in all team sports.

==Overview== thumb|An example of quarterback positioning in an I formation|I-formation thumb|Navy Midshipmen football|Navy Midshipmen quarterback [[Craig Candeto pitches the ball while running an option-based offense]] In modern American football, the starting quarterback is usually the leader of the offense, and their successes and failures can have a significant impact on the fortunes of their team. Accordingly, the quarterback is among the most glorified, scrutinized, and highest-paid positions in team sports; the majority of the highest-paid players in the NFL are quarterbacks, and teams often use their top draft picks to select a quarterback. Bleacher Report describes the signing of a starting quarterback as a catch-22, where "NFL teams cannot maintain success without excellent quarterback play. But excellent quarterback play is usually so expensive that it prevents NFL teams from maintaining success"; a star quarterback's high salary may prevent the signing of other expensive star players as the team has to stay under the hard salary cap. One of the major contributing factors behind the success and longevity of the New England Patriots' Brady–Belichick era was the willingness of starting quarterback Tom Brady to consistently take pay cuts despite his elite performance, which allowed the Patriots to spend that money elsewhere on additional skill players, with a famous example of this being the signing of Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss in 2007.