New England Patriots: Quarterback is biggest roster decision facing team
The biggest remaining roster decision for the New England Patriots is finding a quarterback of the future and restocking the quarterback pipeline.
This has been a peculiar offseason for the New England Patriots. The normally tight-lipped organization has had to deal with some rumors popping up throughout the offseason regarding the future of the team.
Since an ESPN report written by Sam Wickersham in January, things have been different around the Patriots. There has seemed to be an icy relationship between some members of the organization and let us not forget the bizarre decisions with offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels.
While this hasn’t been a prototypical offseason for New England, they are still a team that everyone will have to worry about once the season begins. As long as Bill Belichick is on the sidelines and Tom Brady is under center, the Patriots will be a threat to win. The question is, how much longer will that be?
Brady has that the end is coming sooner than later in an interview with Oprah, which will make some fans nervous.
Brady can’t play forever; everyone knows that. However, the Patriots are not exactly prepared for life after Brady given their current roster.
The two developmental players that New England had on the roster, Jacoby Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo, are elsewhere. Brissett was traded to the Indianapolis Colts, while Garoppolo was traded to the San Francisco 49ers.
Without a young player on the roster, the Patriots are left with only Brady and Brian Hoyer on the roster heading into the offseason. Many people believed it would be a position the Patriots addressed in the 2018 NFL Draft, but that did not happen.
New England passed on quarterbacks throughout the draft. Despite players they reportedly liked, such as Lamar Jackson and Mason Rudolph, being available when they came on the clock, they passed on both of them.
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The Patriots didn’t select a quarterback until the seventh round when they picked LSU quarterback, Danny Etling. Etling needs a lot of development to even become a solid backup, so he doesn’t fit the profile of what fans were expecting to see. That, in part, is why the quarterback pipeline is considered the biggest roster decision still facing New England.
Over at ESPN, they picked the biggest roster decision facing all of the teams in the NFL. The quarterback pipeline being improved is their biggest need going forward.
"Put aside any offseason storylines surrounding Tom Brady and start here: He’ll be 41 in August with two years left on his contract. It’s simply smart business to invest in and develop a young quarterback, something the Patriots have shown themselves capable of in recent years. The team used a seventh-round pick in 2018 on Danny Etling out of LSU, whom they’ll work with in a developmental role in camp. The Patriots also brought in last week recently cut signal-caller Christian Hackenberg for a visit. Perhaps more pertinent to note is that they now have an extra second-round pick in 2019 already and potentially three third-round picks, giving them draft capital to find a young signal-caller."
Draft capital is the norm for New England. They make as many trades as any team in the NFL once draft time comes. With those kinds of assets, the Patriots could make a move up the board next year if there is a prospect that they like.
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Preparing for life after Brady isn’t something fans want to worry about, but the time is coming that a change will have to be made. That change could come as early as next season.