Dan Orlovsky believes Matthew Stafford could be ‘top-five’ quarterback of all-time

Joe Montana didn’t do enough to crack Dan Orlovksy’s top-five quarterback list, but Matthew Stafford is on the verge of getting there.

Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams are one of the strongest Super Bowl favorites in recent years, particularly after Aaron Donald officially came out of retirement to assemble what could be a historic defensive line with Myles Garrett. Monday morning on ESPN’s Get Up, Orlovsky reacted to Donald’s return by noting what it could potentially do for Stafford.

“Matthew Stafford gets another one, he has an MVP in his back pocket, he becomes top-five, top-seven of all-time conversation” – Dan Orlovsky pic.twitter.com/aRggw5hYgY

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2026

“Think about the impact this move can not only have on Aaron Donald, but other people’s legacies,” Orlovsky said. “Matthew Stafford gets another one. He has an MVP in his back pocket. He becomes top-five, top-seven of all-time conversation.”

It wasn’t long ago that Stafford was still considered a borderline Hall of Famer. Last season’s MVP award all but assured Stafford is now a future Hall of Famer, but no one considers him a top-five quarterback alongside names like Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino or Joe Montana. Well, no one except for Dan Orlovsky.

A few years ago, Orlovsky was chastised for creating a top-five all-time quarterback list and leaving Montana off it. Three years later, he’s greasing the skids for Stafford to be on it. Orlovsky didn’t directly put Stafford ahead of Montana on his all-time list Monday morning, but the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback presumably hasn’t done anything in the last three years to crack the top-five. So if Montana isn’t on the list, and Stafford is making his way there, it’s fair to assume Orlovsky might be willing to put Stafford ahead of Montana, which most NFL fans and analysts would agree is ridiculous.

Montana might have a perfect 4-0 Super Bowl record, but the one glaring thing Stafford has over him is Orlovsky’s friendship. Orlovsky has long been open about his friendship with Stafford since their time as teammates with the Detroit Lions. That friendship repeatedly shows itself on ESPN when Orlovsky talks about Stafford.

In fairness to Orlovsky, he’s hitched his wagon to a quarterback who has a league MVP, a Super Bowl ring, and who is currently favored to win another championship. It’s not like Orlovsky is on ESPN hyping Andy Dalton as an all-time great. But second Super Bowl or not, Matthew Stafford will never deserve to be on a top-five list over Joe Montana.