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While the New England Patriots have a young roster amid a rebuild, Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox sees a viable trade candidate at quarterback.
That’s potential starter Jacoby Brissett, who could wear another uniform in 2024 if a quarterback-needy team surfaces with the right asking price. The Patriots signed Brissett this offseason, and he will play a role in helping rookie quarterback Drake Maye develop.
“The Patriots would love to have Brissett around for all of the 2024 campaign to help Maye learn about how to approach the quarterback position in the NFL,” Knox wrote on July 3. “But there is usually a quarterback need across the NFL and that could lead to interest on the trade market.”
“The Patriots do not have to trade Brissett, but he will at least be mentioned in trade conversations when Maye takes over the starting job,” Knox added.
Jacoby Brissett Remains in an ‘Awkward Spot’
How soon Maye will take over as the starter remains the question. The Patriots selected Maye with the No. 3 pick in the draft out of North Carolina, and speculation has ensued since on when Maye will take over as the starter in 2024.
“The Patriots would love to have Maye start a majority of their games in 2024,” Knox noted. “That leaves Brissett in an awkward spot.”
“He is not guaranteed to have a full season’s worth of playing time. He may not even play one quarter of the regular-season games,” Knox added.
That leaves the Patriots in a viable position to leverage Brissett’s experience and talent. Brissett has 48 career starts between his stints with the Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, and Washington Commanders.
“The Patriots signed Jacoby to be the starter right away, knowing they were drafting a quarterback with that pick, because he’s capable and played a lot of football,” former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer said on ESPN’s “NFL Life” in June via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “He’s very endearing to his teammates; they love him. He’s the perfect guy to mentor Drake Maye.”
Amid Brissett’s experience and leadership skills, the Patriots could receive calls if a team suffers a major quarterback loss during training camp, the preseason, or early regular season. This year’s trade deadline is November 5.
Drake Maye Unlikely to Start Before October, Insider Says
It all hinges on how the Brissett-Maye quarterback situation plays out, too. NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran offered three possible scenarios on how soon Maye could take over the reins from Brissett. Curran doesn’t foresee Maye starting before October in any of the scenarios.
“Best case is Maye takes that mini-camp momentum and rolls it into training camp. He shows the day-by-day improvement that Mac Jones did in 2021 and shows resilience and bounce-back when the inevitably ugly plays and days occur,” Curran wrote.
“By the end of camp, he will have been the best quarterback on the field on a few days and the gap between he and presumptive starter Jacoby Brissett will be solely based around on-field leadership,” Curran added. “The little things like getting in and out of the huddle, recognizing defenses, changing plays, etc. — Maye can’t make up that stagger on an eight-year veteran in 20 practices.”
“So Maye will start the season on the bench, but after impressing in mop-up duty against the Niners and Dolphins, he’ll be on the field by Columbus Day,” Curran concluded.
Curran sees Week 13 as the “most likely” scenario in November for Maye instead.
“Maye’s cameos in the fourth quarter of blowouts by San Fran and Miami are ugly at first but competent by the end,” Curran wrote. “Those become springboards for a few increased reps at practice through October. With the team scuffling and everyone understanding the future is not now, the noise to let Maye play gets real loud.”
“Finally, Maye gets his first start against the Colts in Week 13. The team’s playoff hopes are extinguished so a lot of the season becomes about 2025. He plays OK. Then he plays horribly. But the very end of the season winds up reminiscent of 1993 when the light went on for rookie Drew Bledsoe and the Patriots finished with a flourish,” Curran added.
Either scenario far exceeds Curran’s dismal “worst-case scenario” for Maye where the former UNC star struggles mightily throughout the year.
“By the end of the season, Maye still hasn’t gotten a start and – because of the spotty protection and lack of offensive firepower – it seems the team’s no closer on offense than it was in January of 2024,” Curran wrote regarding that potential frightful scenario for Patriots fans.
