"I'll take a stab at it: A franchise quarterback is the face of your franchise. When someone thinks of the Colts, it is, first and foremost, Peyton Manning that comes to mind. He is a quarterback that your franchise would pay top dollar to keep if his contract were up. He is an elite player who can, through both leadership and talent, get your team the win. He is The Man.
When someone says we need to draft our franchise quarterback, they are saying is that we need to draft a kid that will become that man.
Current franchise quarterbacks: P. Manning, T. Brady, A. Rogers, B. Rothlisberger, D. Brees, P. Rivers
Borderline: T. Romo, E. Manning, J. Flacco, M. Ryan
Becoming and Fading: S. Bradford, J. Cutler, M. Sanchez, M. Stafford, D. McNabb, B. Farve"
Josh Freeman is a good young QB with franchise QB potential.