Taylor Heinicke (/ˈhaɪnɪki/ HIGH-nih-kee; born March 15, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Old Dominion and signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2015. Heinicke has also been a member of the New England Patriots, Houston Texans, and Carolina Panthers, as well as the St. Louis BattleHawks in the XFL. With Washington in 2020, he filled in for an injured Alex Smith in a Wild Card playoff game and started the majority of the 2021 season following an injury to Ryan Fitzpatrick.