The 10 Best Patriots Quarterbacks of All Time, Ranked

The New England Patriots spent two decades with one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time on their roster, but things have not always been the easiest for them when it comes to finding long-term answers at the QB position.

Since the franchise’s creation in 1959, the Patriots have played in eight Super Bowls and won six championships, but they did not achieve the majority of their success until after they formed the dynamic player-coach duo of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in 2000. As a result, it can be somewhat difficult to identify their most successful signal-callers.

To figure out a list of the 10 best quarterbacks in the history of the franchise, we focused on those who excelled as passers for the team and found relative success compared with many others who tried and failed to leave a mark for New England. Additionally, we looked at those who found league-wide recognition with postseason accolades.

Let’s take a look at the 10 best quarterbacks in the history of the Patriots franchise.

*Note: All titles, awards and stats listed below are from each player’s tenure with the Patriots only. All stats are from Pro Football Reference unless otherwise stated.

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10. Mac Jones

• Year as a Patriot: 2021-2023
• Titles & awards:
  • Pro Bowl (2021)
  • Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie Team (2021)
• Career regular-season stats:
  • 18-24 record as a starter
  • 66.0 completion percentage
  • 8,940 passing yards
  • 46 passing TDs
  • 36 INTs
  • 327 rushing yards (2.8 yards per carry)
  • 1 rushing TD
• Career postseason stats:
  • 0-1 record
  • 63.2 completion percentage
  • 232 passing yards
  • 2 TDs
  • 2 INTs
• Iconic performance: November 14, 2021, vs. the Cleveland Browns. Jones completed 19 of his 23 passes (82.6%) for 198 yards and three touchdowns in the 45-7 victory over the Browns, a defining performance during his Pro Bowl rookie season.

Mac Jones — the No. 15 pick in the 2021 NFL draft — might seem like an odd inclusion given that the Patriots traded him away to Jacksonville for a 2024 sixth-round pick in March 2024, but the former Alabama standout had a strong rookie season in 2021 that made him look like a star in the making. He completed 67.6% of his passes (352 of 521) for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions as a rookie, leading the Patriots to their only playoff berth since Tom Brady’s departure and earning Pro Bowl honors. While Jones struggled in his subsequent two seasons, his rookie year left its mark.

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9. Matt Cassel

• Year as a Patriot: 2005-2008
• Career regular-season stats:
  • 10-5 record as a starter
  • 62.9 completion percentage
  • 3,946 passing yards
  • 23 passing TDs
  • 13 INTs
  • 298 rushing yards
  • 3 rushing TDs
• Iconic performance: November 13, 2008, at the Miami Dolphins. Cassel had several strong games in 2008 after Tom Brady tore his ACL in the season opener, but he had his finest performance in Week 12 against Miami, completing roughly 70% of his passes for 415 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in the 48-28 divisional win.

Cassel never established himself as a great NFL quarterback, but he did play admirably for the Patriots during their 2008 season without Tom Brady. In 16 games, he threw for 3,693 yards and finished with more touchdowns (21) than interceptions (11), recording a low 2.1% interception rate. He also threw for 400-plus yards in back-to-back games, at the time becoming one of the first five NFL quarterbacks to achieve the feat.

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8. Jimmy Garoppolo

• Year as a Patriot: 2014-2016
• Career regular-season stats:
  • 2-0 record as a starter
  • 67.0 completion percentage
  • 670 passing yards
  • 5 passing TDs
  • 0 INTs
• Iconic performance: September 18, 2016, against the Miami Dolphins. Garoppolo completed 18 of 26 passes (69.2%) for 232 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-24 win over the Dolphins, avoiding the fumbles that plagued him in his previous start.

Jimmy Garoppolo has struggled with performance and injuries since leaving New England, but it is hard to deny the success he experienced with the Patriots. He completed 67% of his passes and threw 5 touchdowns and no interceptions over 17 career games for the Patriots, playing well enough that some fans and media argued the team should move on from the aging Tom Brady and move forward with Garoppolo. Ultimately, the team stuck with Brady — a decision that paid off with two more Super Bowl titles — but the Patriots still managed to flip Garoppolo to San Francisco for a 2018 second-round pick.

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7. Doug Flutie

• Year as a Patriot: 1987-1989, 2005
• Career regular-season stats:
  • 8-5 record as a starter
  • 48.5 completion percentage
  • 1,871 passing yards
  • 11 passing TDs
  • 14 INTs
  • 308 rushing yards
  • 1 rushing TD
• Iconic performance: October 2, 1988, against the Indianapolis Colts. Flutie came off the bench and helped mount a comeback for the Patriots, completing 75% of his passes (12 of 16) for 132 yards, one touchdown and one interception and sealing the 21-17 win with a 13-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

After a rough start to his career in New England, Flutie came off the bench during the 1988 season and had a nice run for the Patriots that nearly got them into the playoffs. He rallied the team to a victory in his first game against the Colts and then went 6-3 over his next nine starts, which included a 4-touchdown performance against the Chicago Bears — who had traded Flutie to the Patriots one year earlier. The Patriots eventually replaced him with Tony Eason, but Flutie did return in 2005 to serve as backup to Tom Brady, who called him “one of the greatest football players ever.”

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6. Jim Plunkett

• Year as a Patriot: 1971-1975
• Career regular-season stats:
  • 23-38 record as a starter
  • 48.5 completion percentage
  • 9,932 passing yards
  • 62 passing TDs
  • 87 INTs
  • 817 rushing yards
  • 9 rushing TDs
• Iconic performance: September 22, 1964, at the New York Giants. Plunkett finished with his best passer rating (132.8) in a game for the Patriots, completing 11 of his 17 passes (64.7%) for 152 yards and three touchdowns in the 28-20 victory over the Giants.

Plunkett might be a controversial inclusion as a former No. 1 overall pick who did not pan out for the Patriots, but that tends to happen when two different quarterbacks each play at least 15 seasons for a franchise. While the majority of his NFL fame came after he left New England for the then-Oakland Raiders and won two Super Bowls, he is one of just six Patriots quarterbacks to throw for at least 9,000 yards and 60 touchdowns.

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5. Tony Eason

• Year as a Patriot: 1983-1989
• Career regular-season stats:
  • 28-21 record as a starter
  • 58.4 completion percentage
  • 10,732 passing yards
  • 60 passing TDs
  • 48 INTs
  • 474 rushing yards
  • 6 rushing TDs
• Career postseason stats:
  • 3-2 record as a starter
  • 58.3 completion percentage
  • 561 passing yards
  • 7 passing TDs
  • 0 INTs
• Iconic performance: September 30, 1984, at the New York Jets. Eason completed 28 of 42 passes (66.7%) for 354 yards and scored all four of the team’s touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) in the 28-21 win over the Jets.

Eason struggled to live up to the reputation of his predecessor, Steve Grogan, during his Patriots career, but he still developed into one of the most prolific passers in franchise history. He is one of five quarterbacks to throw for more than 10,000 career yards for the Patriots and is the only one aside from Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe to throw for at least 60 touchdowns without having more career interceptions. He also guided the team to its first-ever Super Bowl appearance; though, they lost 46-10 to the Chicago Bears.

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4. Vito ‘Babe’ Parilli

• Year as a Patriot: 1961-1967
• Titles & awards:
  • AFL Comeback Player of the Year (1966)
  • 3-time AFL All-Star (1963, 1964, 1966)
  • AFL All-Star Game MVP (1966)
  • First-team All-AFL (1964)
  • AFL passing yards leader (1964)
• Career regular-season stats:
  • 44-32-7 as a starter
  • 47.2 completion percentage
  • 16,747 passing yards
  • 132 passing TDs
  • 138 passing INTs
  • 949 rushing yards
  • 14 rushing TDs
• Career postseason stats:
  • 1-1 record as a starter
  • 43.8 completion percentage
  • 489 passing yards
  • 2 passing TDs
  • 2 INTs
• Iconic performance: November 15, 1964, at the Buffalo Bills. Parilli completed 18 of his 35 passes (51.4%) for 242 yards, five touchdowns and one interception in the narrow 36-28 divisional win over the Bills, who had won nine straight coming into the game.

Before the NFL merger, Parilli was one of the best players in the AFL and brought a sense of excitement to the quarterback position for the Patriots. He threw for 3,441 yards and 31 touchdowns — both career-high marks — during the 1966 season, winning AFL Comeback Player of the Year and setting a team record for single-season passing touchdowns that remained until Tom Brady threw for 50 touchdowns in 2007. Parilli was also such a good kick holder that he earned the nickname “Gold Finger.”

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3. Steve Grogan

• Year as a Patriot: 1975-1990
• Career regular-season stats:
  • 75-60 record as a starter
  • 52.3 completion percentage
  • 26,886 passing yards
  • 182 passing TDs
  • 208 INTs
  • 2,176 rushing yards
  • 35 rushing TDs
• Career postseason stats:
  • 0-3 as a starter
  • 50.5 completion percentage
  • 571 passing yards
  • 3 passing TDs
  • 7 INTs
• Iconic performance: September 9, 1979, against the New York Jets. Grogan led the Patriots to their first win of the season in dominant fashion, completing 72.2% of his passes (13 of 18) for 315 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in the 56-3 victory.

Before Tom Brady made waves in New England, Grogan defined what it meant to play quarterback for the Patriots. He was a tough, gritty quarterback who doled out hard hits and had no fear when it came to running the ball, setting an NFL record for the most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 12 during the 1976 season (a record that lasted until Cam Newton broke it with 16 in 2011). He was also an effective passer who helped lead the Patriots to their first AFC title in 1985 and retired in 1990 as the all-time leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns, records Brady eventually broke.

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2. Drew Bledsoe

• Year as a Patriot: 1993-2001
• Titles & awards:
  • 3-time Pro Bowler (1994, 1996, 1997)
  • NFL passing leader (1994)
• Career regular-season stats:
  • 63-60 record as a starter
  • 56.3 completion percentage
  • 29,657 passing yards
  • 166 passing TDs
  • 138 INTs
  • 553 rushing yards
  • 2 rushing TDs
• Career postseason stats:
  • 3-3 record as a starter
  • 51.2 completion percentage
  • 1,335 passing yards
  • 6 passing TDs
  • 12 INTs
• Iconic performance: November 13, 1994, against the Minnesota Vikings. Bledsoe set single-game records for completions (45) and passing attempts (70) while leading the Patriots to a comeback 26-20 win, throwing for 426 yards and three touchdowns.

Bledsoe is often remembered as the man who ceded his starting job to a young man out of Michigan named Tom Brady, but he remains one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play for the Patriots despite the hurricane of success the franchise experienced in the 17 years that followed. He led the NFL with 4,555 passing yards during his first Pro Bowl season in 1994. He also played a crucial role in the Patriots winning the 2002 Super Bowl, replacing an injured Brady and guiding the team to a 24-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. The Patriots have since enshrined him in the team’s Hall of Fame.

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1. Tom Brady

• Year as a Patriot: 1993-2001
• Titles & awards:
  • 6-time Super Bowl champion
  • 5-time Super Bowl MVP
  • 3-time MVP (2007, 2010, 2017)
  • NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2007, 2010)
  • NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2009)
  • First-team All-Pro (2007, 2010, 2017)
  • Second-team All-Pro (2005, 2016)
  • 14-time Pro Bowler (2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009-2018)
  • NFL passing touchdown leader (2002, 2007, 2010, 2015)
  • NFL passing yards leader (2005, 2007, 2017)
  • NFL passer rating leader (2007, 2010)
  • NFL completion percentage leader (2017, 2010)
• Career regular-season stats:
  • 219-64 record as a starter
  • 63.8 completion percentage
  • 74,571 passing yards (franchise record)
  • 541 passing TDs (franchise record)
  • 179 INTs
  • 1,037 rushing yards
  • 22 rushing TDs
• Career postseason stats:
  • 35-13 record as a starter
  • 63.0 completion percentage
  • 11,388 passing yards
  • 73 passing TDs
  • 35 INTs
  • 136 rushing yards
  • 6 rushing TDs
• Iconic performance: February 5, 2017, against the Atlanta Falcons in the 2017 Super Bowl. After trailing 21-3 at halftime, Brady helped lead the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history to claim his fifth career championship. He completed 43 of his 62 passes (69.3%) for 466 yards, two touchdowns and one interception to knock off the Falcons, 34-28.

Brady is one of the greatest quarterbacks in the modern NFL and the undisputed choice for the top slot on the list of all-time Patriots greats. He brought six Super Bowl titles to New England and staked his claim to numerous franchise and league career passing records throughout his career, ensuring his eventual enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and forging a legacy that will likely endure for decades to come. When it comes to Patriots football, there is not — and may never be — a name greater than Brady.

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