Tom Brady’s departure leaves an extremely large hole to fill for the New England Patriots.
With little cap space, they’re tasked to replace one of the greatest players to ever play — with a small pool to work with. The likely starter as of right now would be second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham, with Cody Kessler and newly signed Brian Hoyer competing for a backup role.
Hoyer, who agreed to a one-year deal worth $1 million, seems to have more expectations than just becoming a backup. The 34-year-old veteran was drafted by the Patriots in 2009 and is on his third stint with the team. Now that Brady’s out of the picture, Hoyer will fight for a starting role, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
“Agent Joe Linta, who I talked to after the deal happened, said Hoyer could have been offered $5 (million) or $6 million from another team, but he wanted to be in New England because they told him he would have the chance to compete for the starting job,” Rapoport said, transcribed by NESN’s Adam London. “So yes, Brian Hoyer, Jarrett Stidham and Cody Kessler are going to be battling it out for the starting quarterback position once held by Tom Brady. Of course, the Patriots could draft a quarterback as well, but we’re still a month from finding out that answer.”
Hoyer has only started 38 games in his 11-year career, but he knows everything about New England’s offense. If Stidham can’t get a grasp on the starting role by the beginning of the 2020 season, the Patriots would at least have a game manager with familiarity in the offense.
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