Tag: Brian Hoyer

Patriots salary cap: Tracking New England’s $18 million in dead money

Here’s where the Patriots’ dead money situation stands ahead of the 2023 season.

The New England Patriots have made it past June 1, which means the team’s salary will be less impacted by any trades or contract releases for the 2023 season.

When it comes to dead money, the Patriots are sitting at the middle of the pack in the NFL, mostly due to all of the money they had tied up in former tight end Jonnu Smith’s contract.

Dead cap is money or any guaranteed salary still being paid to players that were moved from the roster. The Patriots are currently sitting at $18,174,272 in dead money, per Over The Cap.

Here are nine former Patriots players eating up a portion of the team’s salary cap ahead of the 2023 season:

Patriots 2023 NFL draft preview: Where do Patriots stand at QB?

Here’s where things stand at quarterback for the Patriots heading into the 2023 NFL draft.

The quarterback position hasn’t really felt solidified for the New England Patriots since Tom Brady was under center.

Cam Newton was there for one year, and then he wasn’t. Now, Mac Jones, the golden child that was supposed to serve as the next franchise face, is the subject of trade rumors after a frustrating 2022 season.

The Patriots are standing on rocky ground at quarterback, and that makes them one of the more interesting teams to watch heading into the 2023 NFL draft.

We’re going through every position here at Patriots Wire with this pre-draft series. Today, we’ll start at the top with the team’s ongoing quarterback discussion.

Raiders sign former longtime Patriots backup QB to two-year deal

The Raiders continue to add to their collection of former Patriots quarterbacks.

The Las Vegas Raiders signed another familiar face from the New England Patriots on Tuesday. Per JL Sports Agency, Brian Hoyer, the former longtime backup quarterback for the Patriots, signed a two-year contract with the Raiders.

New England signed Hoyer to a two-year extension last offseason, but they ended up releasing him on March 16. He was in his third stint with the organization.

Hoyer becomes yet another former Patriot to join Las Vegas. Jimmy Garoppolo, Jarrett Stidham, Brandon Bolden, Jakob Johnson, Isaiah Zuber, Jakobi Meyers, Justin Herron, Adam Butler, and Chandler Jones were all once former members of the Patriots.

Hoyer could be a solid backup for Garoppolo, as head coach Josh McDaniels looks to right the ship in his second season with the Raiders organization.

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Raiders sign former Patriots QB Brian Hoyer to 2-year deal

Josh McDaniels adds his third former Patriots QB to Raiders roster

The influx of former Patriots continues in Las Vegas. Including Josh McDaniels today signing his third former Patriots QB.

Tuesday the team signed veteran Brian Hoyer to a two-year deal.

The 15-year veteran spent the first three years of his NFL career in New England and four of the past five years.

In between, he spent time with the Browns, Texans, Bears, 49ers, and Colts. He has started a total of 40 games, though three of those games were in a Patriots uniform.

The last two starts at QB for the Raiders were by former Patriots QB Jarrett Stidham. And this offseason, the Raiders made former Patriots and 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo their top priority in free agency.

On top of that, they added former Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers in free agency

The offense stumbled last season in Las Vegas, in part because of difficulties with Derek Carr implementing McDaniels’s offense. Clearly he’s making sure he has plenty of QBs who know his offense on the team.

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9 former Patriots players who are still free agents

Here are the last remaining former Patriots players still listed as free agents.

After one week of free agency, the New England Patriots have managed to re-sign the vast majority of their pending free agents since the turn of the new league year.

They’ve also lost some key players as well, including wideout Jakobi Meyers and running back Damien Harris.

But not everyone has been picked up by another team yet. There are still some considerably noteworthy names swimming in the massive pool of free agency. For New England, that number has dwindled all the way down to 10 players left on the list.

Here are the former Patriots players still waiting to be signed in free agency.

Report: Patriots release longtime backup QB Brian Hoyer

The Patriots have reportedly released Brian Hoyer.

Longtime veteran backup quarterback Brian Hoyer has reportedly been released from the New England Patriots, according to The Wire, via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

It was an expected move for the Patriots heading into the new league year. Hoyer has served as a reliable backup for the team off and on over the years. He even got the nod to start over rookie Bailey Zappe when Mac Jones went down with an ankle injury early in the season.

But his exit signals the Patriots are ready to move forward with Jones and Zappe as their top-two quarterbacks. They’ll likely reach out and sign another player at some point, or they could take a flier on a late-round draft pick at the position.

Hoyer, 37, will have to make the choice to either continue playing or calling it quits. One great scenario would be him sticking around in New England and helping coach quarterbacks for the team.

There’s clearly a lot more football left to give from Hoyer, even if it’s not on the field.

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Report: Patriots expected to release longtime backup quarterback

The Patriots are now down to two quarterbacks.

The New England Patriots are expected to release veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer by the start of the new league year, per NFL insider and Sirius XM’s Adam Caplan.

Hoyer served in a backup role for New England throughout his career. He most recently signed a two-year deal last offseason to stay with the Patriots .

The 37-year-old veteran did play a small starting role with the Patriots in the 2022 season, following an injury to quarterback Mac Jones. He appeared in October’s game against the Green Bay Packers, going five-of-six for 37 yards, before leaving with an injury.

He spent eight years in New England, throwing for 729 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions during that time. This move effectively makes Bailey Zappe the primary backup quarterback for the Patriots.

It will be intriguing to see how the Patriots’ quarterback room shakes out with Hoyer no longer on the team.  If nothing else, there is now a youth movement at the position.

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Patriots players contribute to Damar Hamlin’s charity

Several Patriots players contributed to Damar Hamlin’s charity.

Several members of the New England Patriots donated to Damar Hamlin’s charity, after the 24-year-old Buffalo Bills safety tragically collapsed on the field in Monday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hamlin’s charity is a toy drive that he created in 2020. It went to support children affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania.

Cornerback Myles Bryant, defensive tackle Lawrence Guy and quarterback Brian Hoyer donated to the charity.

The NFL announced that Monday’s Bills-Bengals game will not be played this week.

There has been no decision on a potential reschedule of the game. The Week 18 matchup between the Bills and Patriots is still scheduled to be played, but those plans could change with things still currently up in the air. Right now, the primary focus is on Hamlin’s health.

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Former Browns QB makes classy donation to Damar Hamlin’s toy drive

Brian Hoyer has always been a class act

Last night, the NFL experienced a shock as the whole world surrounded safety Damar Hamlin with positive vibes. After the safety collapsed on the field for the Buffalo Bills, his fundraising toy drive link spread like wildfire across social media. This has led to donations exceeding $3 million, and even his NFL colleagues got involved. One of those players is a former quarterback of the Cleveland Browns, Brian Hoyer.

Joining a plethora of other players, Hoyer donated $1,000 to the toy drive of Hamlin to show his love and support for the Buffalo safety. Hoyer has always been a class act, and that has not changed since he departed from Cleveland.

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3 keys for Patriots to right the ship against Lions

Keys for the Patriots to right the ship in a pivotal Week 5 meeting with the Lions

The New England Patriots (1-3) take on the Detroit Lions (1-3) at Gillette Stadium on Sunday and will have their hands full with a surprisingly good offense that is currently ranked No. 1 in the NFL.

However, the Patriots may be getting a big break as the Lions could be without star wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown and elite running back D’Andre Swift. Tight end T.J. Hockenson and center Frank Ragnow are also both banged up, but they returned to practice on Thursday.

Without further ado, let’s get into this week’s keys for the game.