List of NFL annual pass completion percentage leaders

This is a list of National Football League (NFL) quarterbacks who have led the regular season in pass completion percentage each year.

Sammy Baugh led the NFL in completion percentage a record eight times.^[1]

The National Football League (NFL) did not begin keeping official records until the 1932 season.^[2] In addition to the overall NFL pass completion percentage leaders, league record books recognize the pass completion percentage leaders of the American Football League (AFL), which operated from 1960 to 1969 before being absorbed into the NFL in 1970.^[3]

The record for completion percentage in a season is held by Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints who completed 74.4% of his passes in 2018. This marked the fourth time Brees set the record, having done so previously in 2009, 2011, and 2017. Sammy Baugh led the league in pass completion percentage eight times, a record that was later tied by Len Dawson, who led the AFL seven times and the NFL once.^[1][4]

NFL annual completion percentage leaders

Drew Brees set the single-season completion percentage a record five times.^[5][6]

During the 1960s, Bart Starr completed over 60% of his passes in four seasons. Starr led led the league in completion percentage during each of those seasons.^[7]

Key

Symbol	Meaning
Leader	The player who recorded the highest pass completion percentage in the NFL
Cmp%	The player's pass completion percentage for the season
†	Pro Football Hall of Fame member
^	The player is an active player
*	Player set the single-season pass completion percentage
(#)	Denotes the number of times a player appears in this list

NFL annual pass completion percentage leaders by season

Season	Leader	Cmp%[A]	Team	Ref.
1933	Arnie Herber†	40.3%*	Green Bay Packers	[9][10]
1934	Arnie Herber† (2)	36.5%	Green Bay Packers	[9][10]
1935	No player met the minimum threshold[A]			[11]
1936	Ed Matesic	46.4%*	Pittsburgh Pirates	[9][12]
1937	Ed Danowski	49.3%*	New York Giants	[9][13]
1938	Ed Danowski (2)	54.3%*	New York Giants	[9][13]
1939	Parker Hall	51.0%	Cleveland Rams	[9][14]
1940	Sammy Baugh†	62.7%*	Washington Redskins	[9][15]
1941	Sid Luckman†	57.1%	Chicago Bears	[9][16]
1942	Sammy Baugh† (2)	58.7%	Washington Redskins	[9][15]
1943	Sammy Baugh† (3)	55.6%	Washington Redskins	[9][15]
1944	Frank Filchock	57.1%	Washington Redskins	[9][17]
1945	Sammy Baugh† (4)	70.3%*	Washington Redskins	[9][15]
1946	Sammy Baugh† (5)	54.0%	Washington Redskins	[9][15]
1947	Sammy Baugh† (6)	59.3%	Washington Redskins	[9][15]
1948	Sammy Baugh† (7)	58.7%	Washington Redskins	[9][15]
1949	Sammy Baugh† (8)	56.9%	Washington Redskins	[9][15]
1950	Bob Waterfield†	57.3%	Los Angeles Rams	[9][18]
1951	Bobby Thomason	56.6%	Green Bay Packers	[9][19]
1952	Norm Van Brocklin†	55.1%	Los Angeles Rams	[9][20]
1953	Otto Graham†	64.7%	Cleveland Browns	[9][21]
1954	Otto Graham† (2)	59.2%	Cleveland Browns	[9][21]
1955	Otto Graham† (3)	53.0%	Cleveland Browns	[9][21]
	Bobby Layne†		Detroit Lions	[9][22]
1956	Ed Brown	57.1%	Chicago Bears	[9][23]
1957	Y. A. Tittle†	63.1%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][24]
1958	John Brodie	59.9%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][25]
1959	Milt Plum	58.6%	Cleveland Browns	[9][26]
	Bill Wade		Los Angeles Rams	[9][27]
1960	Milt Plum (2)	60.4%	Cleveland Browns	[9][26]
1961	Milt Plum (3)	58.6%	Cleveland Browns	[9][26]
1962	Bart Starr†	62.5%	Green Bay Packers	[9][28]
1963	Y. A. Tittle† (2)	60.2%	New York Giants	[9][24]
1964	Rudy Bukich	61.9%	Chicago Bears	[9][29]
1965	John Brodie (2)	61.9%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][25]
1966	Bart Starr† (2)	62.2%	Green Bay Packers	[9][28]
1967	Johnny Unitas†	58.5%	Baltimore Colts	[9][30]
1968	Bart Starr† (3)	63.7%	Green Bay Packers	[9][28]
1969	Bart Starr† (4)	62.2%	Green Bay Packers	[9][28]
1970	Sonny Jurgensen†	59.9%	Washington Redskins	[9][31]
1971	Virgil Carter	62.2%	Cincinnati Bengals	[9][32]
1972	Norm Snead	60.3%	New York Giants	[9][33]
1973	Ken Stabler†	62.7%	Oakland Raiders	[9][34]
1974	Ken Anderson	64.9%	Cincinnati Bengals	[9][35]
1975	Len Dawson†	66.4%	Kansas City Chiefs	[9][36]
1976	Ken Stabler† (2)	66.7%	Oakland Raiders	[9][34]
1977	Fran Tarkenton†	60.1%	Minnesota Vikings	[9][37]
1978	Bob Griese†	63.0%	Miami Dolphins	[9][38]
1979	Dan Fouts†	62.6%	San Diego Chargers	[9][39]
1980	Joe Montana†	64.5%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][40]
1981	Joe Montana† (2)	63.7%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][40]
1982	Ken Anderson (2)	70.6%*[B]	Cincinnati Bengals	[9][35]
1983	Ken Anderson (3)	66.7%	Cincinnati Bengals	[9][35]
1984	Steve Bartkowski	67.3%	Atlanta Falcons	[9][41]
1985	Joe Montana† (3)	61.3%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][40]
1986	Eric Hipple	63.0%	Detroit Lions	[9][42]
1987	Joe Montana† (4)	66.8%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][40]
1988	Wade Wilson	61.4%	Minnesota Vikings	[9][43]
1989	Joe Montana† (5)	70.2%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][40]
1990	Jim Kelly†	63.3%	Buffalo Bills	[9][44]
1991	Dave Krieg	65.6%	Seattle Seahawks	[9][45]
1992	Steve Young†	66.7%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][46]
1993	Troy Aikman†	69.1%	Dallas Cowboys	[9][47]
1994	Steve Young† (2)	70.3%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][46]
1995	Steve Young† (3)	66.9%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][46]
1996	Steve Young† (4)	67.7%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][46]
1997	Steve Young† (5)	67.7%	San Francisco 49ers	[9][46]
1998	Brett Favre†	63.0%	Green Bay Packers	[9][48]
	Steve Beuerlein		Carolina Panthers	[9][49]
1999	Kurt Warner†	65.1%	St. Louis Rams	[9][50]
2000	Kurt Warner† (2)	67.7%	St. Louis Rams	[9][50]
2001	Kurt Warner† (3)	68.7%	St. Louis Rams	[9][50]
2002	Chad Pennington	68.9%	New York Jets	[9][51]
2003	Peyton Manning†	67.0%	Indianapolis Colts	[9][52]
2004	Brian Griese	69.3%	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	[9][53]
2005	Carson Palmer	67.8%	Cincinnati Bengals	[9][54]
2006	David Carr	68.3%	Houston Texans	[9][55]
2007	Tom Brady	68.9%	New England Patriots	[9][56]
2008	Chad Pennington (2)	67.4%	Miami Dolphins	[9][51]
2009	Drew Brees	70.6%*[B]	New Orleans Saints	[9][58]
2010	Drew Brees (2)	68.1%	New Orleans Saints	[9][58]
2011	Drew Brees (3)	71.2%*	New Orleans Saints	[9][58]
2012	Peyton Manning† (2)	68.6%	Denver Broncos	[9][52]
	Matt Ryan		Atlanta Falcons	[9][61]
2013	Philip Rivers	69.5%	San Diego Chargers	[9][62]
2014	Tony Romo	69.9%	Dallas Cowboys	[9][63]
2015	Kirk Cousins^	69.8%	Washington Redskins	[9][64]
2016	Sam Bradford	71.6%*	Minnesota Vikings	[9][65]
2017	Drew Brees (4)	72.0%*	New Orleans Saints	[9][58]
2018	Drew Brees (5)	74.4%*	New Orleans Saints	[9][58]
2019	Drew Brees (6)	74.3%	New Orleans Saints	[9][58]
2020	Aaron Rodgers^	70.7%	Green Bay Packers	[9][66]
2021	Joe Burrow^	70.4%	Cincinnati Bengals	[9][67]
2022	Geno Smith^	69.8%	Seattle Seahawks	[9][68]
2023	Jake Browning^	70.4%	Cincinnati Bengals	[9][69]
2024	Tua Tagovailoa^	72.9%	Miami Dolphins	[9][70]

AFL annual completion percentage leaders

Len Dawson led the AFL in pass completion percentage seven times.^[71] He also led the NFL in 1975.^[72]

Key

Symbol	Meaning
Leader	The player who recorded the highest pass completion percentage in the AFL
Cmp%	The player's completion percentage for the season
GP	The number of games played by a player during the season
†	Pro Football Hall of Fame member
*	Player set the single-season pass completion percentage
(#)	Denotes the number of times a player appears in this list

AFL annual pass completion percentage leaders by season

Season	Leader	Cmp%	Team	Ref.
1960	Tom Flores†	54.0%*	Oakland Raiders	[9][73]
1961	Babe Parilli	52.5%	Boston Patriots	[9][74]
1962	Len Dawson†	61.0%*	Dallas Texans	[9][36]
1963	Tobin Rote	59.4%	San Diego Chargers	[9][75]
1964	Len Dawson† (2)	56.2%	Kansas City Chiefs	[9][36]
1965	Len Dawson† (3)	53.4%	Kansas City Chiefs	[9][36]
1966	Len Dawson† (4)	56.0%	Kansas City Chiefs	[9][36]
1967	Len Dawson† (5)	57.7%	Kansas City Chiefs	[9][36]
1968	Len Dawson† (6)	58.5%	Kansas City Chiefs	[9][36]
1969	Len Dawson† (7)	59.0%	Kansas City Chiefs	[9][36]

Most seasons leading a league

Count	Player	Seasons	Team(s)	Ref.
8	Sammy Baugh	1940, 1942, 1943, 1945–1949	Washington Redskins	[9][15]
	Len Dawson	1962, 1964–1969, 1975	Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs	[9][36]
6	Drew Brees	2009–2011, 2017–2019	New Orleans Saints	[9][58]
5	Joe Montana	1980, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1989	San Francisco 49ers	[9][40]
	Steve Young	1992, 1994–1997	San Francisco 49ers	[9][46]
4	Bart Starr	1962, 1966, 1968, 1969	Green Bay Packers	[9][28]
3	Ken Anderson	1974, 1982, 1983	Cincinnati Bengals	[9][35]
	Otto Graham	1953–1955	Cleveland Browns	[9][21]
	Milt Plum	1959–1961	Cleveland Browns	[9][26]
	Kurt Warner	1999–2001	St. Louis Rams	[9][50]

See also

• List of NFL annual passing touchdowns leaders
• List of NFL annual passing yards leaders
• List of NFL annual passer rating leaders

Notes

1. To qualify, a player must meet a minimum number of pass attempts per team game. 10 attempts per team game for seasons prior to 1975, 12 attempts per team game for the 1976 and 1977 seasons, and 14 attempts per team game from the 1978 season onwards.^[8]
2. Ken Anderson completed 218 of 309 passes in the 1982 season,^[35] which represents a completion percentage of 70.55% and was an NFL record at the time.^[57] In 2009, Drew Brees broke this record by completing 363 of 514 passes,^[58] which represents a completion percentage of 70.62%.^[59] Both numbers are rounded to one decimal point in the table, and may appear to be a tie, but Brees actually broke Anderson's record.^[59][60]