Should the New England Patriots sign Mike Kafka?

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Even with all the arguments against signing Mike Kafka, there are arguments that support the thought that the New England Patriots should add him. I mean, he is better than Brian Hoyer and it is a risk to have Ryan Mallett as the only backup quarterback on the team. He has upside, but who knows if he can step right in and play as a second-year quarterback and succeed if worst comes to worst. Kafka is a solid insurance policy due to his precision, and he is a solid backup despite being a system quarterback.

But, therein lies the problem. If he’s a good backup and a system quarterback, then why did the Philadelphia Eagles release him? They could just be shallow and decided to release him because of his injury and Foles’s performance, they might believe that Edwards is truly the better quarterback, maybe they wanted to be nice to Kafka and try and find him a trade partner before releasing him to find a better situation, or the Eagles may have dumped him off after using him as trade bait in order to get rid of a player who might be mad at the team for trying to trade him.

In all, Mike Kafka is a quarterback with a high amount of accuracy but no arm strength. He can be decent in a system tailored to his abilities and is a capable backup. In order for the Patriots to sign him, they have to feel the need for an insurance policy at the position for both Tom Brady (injury) as well as Ryan Mallett (inconsistency), and they need to think that he presents enough of an upgrade over Brian Hoyer. The latter case seems more likely than the former. He’s a smart QB who can fit the Pats system, so it makes sense to take stock of him. If the price is right and the Pats feel like the need is there, don’t be surprised to find Kafka on the Pats. The chances have heightened as the Patriots are among the teams interested in Kafka; will see who gets him off of waivers.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.