We’ve seen it before. A perennial playoff team suffers and injury to, the retirement of, or an exit of their quarterback. Since that’s kind of the most important position in football, the team struggles the next year. Finding the next franchise signal-caller becomes a chore. That team bottoms out — and sometimes make moves with the future in mind like trading veterans and loading up on draft picks — until they can find their new franchise quarterback. It’s the normal cycle of things in the NFL. The question is whether or not the Patriots will follow the same pattern now that Tom Brady has chosen to take his talents elsewhere.
The path to a high draft pick is clearly visible. Don’t sign a veteran quarterback and ride with Jarret Stidham. If Stidham struggles early on, rest some veterans, maybe make some trades, figure out how to stockpile assets to move up in the draft and target Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields. Remember, this is the Patriots we are talking about. They aren’t going to tank and here’s why: