Tom Brady’s departure is overshadowing a glaring Patriots’ problem on offense

The issue no one seems to be talking about.

The New England Patriots’ quarterback situation is probably the most interesting one in the NFL. Tom Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and left behind an impossible-to-fill vacancy. And Bill Belichick has elected to make quiet and small efforts to fill that hole.

Considering the Patriots’ have roughly $1 million in cap space, the team might be content — or simply tied to — their current quarterback group: Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer and Cody Kessler. But you’ve heard this before by now, right? This is the obvious problem.

But, reminder: Belichick doesn’t have talent at tight end.

The Patriots have been unable to replace another future Hall of Famer, Rob Gronkowski. He retired after the 2018 season and left a Gronk-sized hole, another impossible-to-fill vacancy. New England took a very similar approach when they lost Gronk to what it’s doing without Brady. Though the Patriots tried to sign Jared Cook in 2019, the team resorted to using Ben Watson, Ryan Izzo and Matt LaCosse, a group which posted 36 catches, 418 catches and two touchdowns. Their combined production finished with fewer catches, fewer yards and fewer touchdowns than those of former Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert, who was in a woeful Cincinnati offense.

The problem with finding production at the tight end position, however, is that there’s an extremely limited amount of talent at the position. Experienced veterans come at a premium, with Eifert signing an absurd $15.5 million, two-year deal with the Jaguars this offseason. Belichick has long been a bargain shopper in free agency, and he’s entirely disinterested in paying Eifert or Jimmy Graham, who signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the Bears, the going rate for their services. Belichick hasn’t even bothered adding another player to the group this offseason. In fact, he’s losing the top pass-catcher at the tight end position, Watson, who finished with 17 catches and 173 yards.

New England’s receiver position drew a great deal of criticism in 2019, with Julian Edelman leading the group. Behind him, Mohamed Sanu, N’Keal Harry and Phillip Dorsett were unable to step up. The talent on offense was so unimpressive that it seemed to be a big reason why Brady began to consider other options during free agency. Brady wanted the Patriots to upgrade the skill player depth chart before he returned, according to NFL Network. They didn’t. If Brady, a declining but still-solid quarterback, felt the group was insufficient for him, then they’ll probably be insufficient for Stidham (or Hoyer or Kessler).

And though it’s easy to imagine the Patriots receiver position making progress in 2020 — Harry and Jakobi Meyers were rookies and Sanu was dealing with a serious ankle injury — there isn’t the same space for optimism about Izzo and LaCosse. The Patriots need to get better at the position. It’s likely that a good player at tight end could work as a safety next, if Stidham ends up being the starter next season. The problem is that there don’t seem to be many options for New England.

The team could trade for the Giants’ Evan Engram, the Browns’ David Njoku or another high-potential, high-risk option. New England could also draft one of the top tight ends — Cole Kmet or Adam Trautman, among others — but it’s not expected to be a class like last year, which featured elite talents like Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson.

With Belichick, nothing is impossible. Maybe he and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels can revamp the quarterback and tight end positions in short order. But the performance of the next quarterback seems tethered to the production of the tight ends. With no upgrade at tight end, the Patriots may be leaving Stidham unsupported, just like Brady.

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