Tom Brady is leaving the New England Patriots, and it was the big news of Tuesday morning. The longtime New England star broke the news, declaring himself "forever a Patriot" despite the fact that he will be continuing his journey elsewhere.
Where Brady will Brady be headed next? We'll find out soon enough, but there's another thing to consider here: what on earth are the Patriots going to do at quarterback? We'll walk through all of the realistic options they have under center in the space below
In-house options
Stidham was the Patriots' fourth-round pick (No. 133 overall) last season. He had a solid career at Baylor and Auburn, completing 64.3 percent of his passes for 7,217 yards, 48 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions in two-plus seasons as a starter. He was viewed as a developmental prospect, the kind of player you can take a shot on but do not necessarily view as a definite future starter. He threw passes in only two games last season, and it was something like a disaster. He went 2 of 3 for 14 yards and a pick-six against the Jets, and 0 of 1 against the Bills. It seems extremely unlikely that he enters next season as the starting quarterback.
Kessler is a journeyman former third-round pick (No. 93) of the Cleveland Browns. While I was once uninformed enough to not understand why he wasn't considered a top NFL prospect, he has not shown himself to be a starter-quality player in the league. Granted, his previous opportunities came in Cleveland and Jacksonville, but it's difficult to imagine the Patriots being comfortable with him as their primary option under center.
Tom Brady is officially leaving the Patriots -- you read that right. What does it all mean? Where does he go next? Will Brinson and the Pick Six Podcast Superfriends are here to break it all down; listen below and be sure to subscribe for daily NFL goodness.
Free agency
Winston is probably the most talented quarterback available this offseason, but he is also the most frustrating. His 33-touchdown, 30-interception season in 2019 perfectly exemplifies his merits and his foibles. The Buccaneers are talking like they might be ready to move on from him, which puts him in play, but it's pretty difficult to see Bill Belichick as willing to put up with Jameis' turnovers -- not to mention all of the question marks surrounding his behavior off the field, particularly when it comes to his treatment of women.
Players who could be traded or cut
Andy Dalton, Derek Carr, Jacoby Brissett, Nick Foles, Nick Mullens
Dalton has probably been the most-discussed potential option for New England if Brady leaves. He's a steady veteran who has displayed a measure of consistency throughout his career, and actually led the Cincinnati Bengals to multiple playoff appearances in a row. Cincy is obviously widely expected to take Joe Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick, and it would not make much sense to keep Dalton on the roster at his cap hit when they could move on without dead money. Perhaps they try to wait until the last minute for a trade, but it seems more likely they cut him loose before the free-agency period opens and let him find a new team where he can at least compete for the starting job.
One of the teams that has been connected to Brady in recent rumors is the Raiders, who would obviously and necessarily be moving on from Carr if they were to bring Brady in. That puts Carr in play for the Pats. Similarly, the Colts are heavily rumored to be interested in Philip Rivers, and they could save around $15.9 million on the cap by trading Brissett. New England drafted him in the first place, and would presumably have some interest if he were to become available.
The Jaguars probably should move on from Foles and just hand the reins to Gardner Minshew. It would be expensive to do so, but it's better to just rip the bandage off now and only suffer with one year of a big dead cap hit rather than spreading it out over multiple years and thus wasting three-plus years of cheap quarterback play by having another expensive quarterback on the roster. Foles struggles to stay healthy and is extremely inconsistent, but he's shown an incredibly high ceiling, which could be attractive to the Pats when you consider the other options available.
Mullens is an exclusive rights free agent, but the Pats and Niners have come together on a QB trade before, and John Lynch and Mike Shanahan might be willing to work something out with Belichick if New England is interested in a guy who acquitted himself nicely when filling in for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo in 2018.
In the draft
Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, Jacob Eason, Jake Fromm, Jalen Hurts
Tagovailoa would probably be in consideration for the No. 1 pick if he were fully healthy. He's on his way and has gotten good reports on his hip, but concerns about him having to sit out as much as a year before taking the field make Burrow the surefire top QB prospect. But Tua's still got a ton of potential, and if he checks out medically and interview-wise at the combine, he could still go somewhere inside the top five picks. That means New England would likely have to trade up to get him.
The Patriots have picks No. 23 (first round) and 87 (third), but they also have two fourth-round picks, one fifth-rounders, two sixth-rounders, and three seventh-rounders. It would be pretty difficult to move up for Tagovailoa without giving up a future first, which makes it an extremely remote possibility unless Tagovailoa falls down the draft board. But considering the medicals would be the most likely reason for that, it might take him out of consideration anyway.
Herbert is next on the QB prospect list after Tua, but he could also potentially be a top-10 selection. It's likely that New England would have to trade up for him as well, though they would not have to go up quite as far and could perhaps get it done without giving up future selections. Love and potentially Eason are in play with the Patriots' own first-round pick, while Eason, Fromm, and Hurts could be taken on Day 2 or 3.
