There’s a chapter in New England Patriots franchise history that can only be coined “We all know Tom’s age and contract situation.”
That famous Bill Belichick quote coincided with one of the most jarring Patriots draft picks of the Tom Brady era — Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in the second round of 2014. Belichick even doubled down two years later, spending a third-round pick on Jacoby Brissett.
Patriots fans would have loved to see their coach use those premium draft picks to support the greatest quarterback of all time, rather than on his potential successor. But to steal another line from Belichick, it is what it is.
Garoppolo showed flashes of being a franchise quarterback, leading San Francisco to the Super Bowl in 2019, two years after being traded by the Patriots. He’s now in his 12th season, currently backing up Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams, which is his fourth different NFL team.
Brissett has been an NFL journeyman since getting shipped to the Indianapolis Colts for wide receiver Phillip Dorsett in 2017. He’s played for five teams in as many years, including a return to Foxboro last year as a veteran mentor to then first-round rookie Drake Maye.
Now in Year 10, teams know what they’re getting with Brissett. He’s a solid NFL backup who, when called upon, knows how to protect the football and give his team a chance to win games.
He’s always been viewed as more of a seat warmer than a job stealer, but the situation currently playing out in Arizona should be turning heads at 1 Patriots Place.
Jacoby Brissett is making Mike Vrabel’s Patriots look silly for passing on him this offseason
The Mike Vrabel regime has severed ties with the majority of Belichick’s draft picks and free agent signings. Entering Week 10, only 14 players on the Patriots’ active roster have ties to Belichick’s final year in 2023 and beyond.
Brissett was one of those castoffs this offseason. He was able to land a two-year, $12.5 million deal with the Arizona Cardinals, which was likely well beyond the Patriots’ preferred price at QB2; they wound up settling for Joshua Dobbs for less than half of Brissett’s guaranteed money (which was $8 million, per Spotrac).
Dobbs had ties to Vrabel; he backed up Ryan Tannehill with the Tennessee Titans in 2022 and started the final two games of that season. Brissett was a solid Patriot in both of his stints, however, and has spent the past three weeks looking like an absolute bargain for the Cardinals.
In fact, Brissett might be turning Arizona’s floundering season completely around.
Inserted as the starter for the injured Kyler Murray since Week 6, the Cardinals were competitive in losses to the Colts and Packers before completely outclassing the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, 27-17, this past Monday night.
Brissett has passed for at least 260 yards in every game, has a 6-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio, and has a passer rating of 102.5; with Murray surprisingly (and conveniently) landing on injured reserve this week, it doesn’t sound like Brissett's run as Arizona’s starter is ending anytime soon.
The veteran's prowess at limiting turnovers makes him feel like the perfect No. 2 quarterback option for Vrabel. Per Pro Football Talk, his career interception rate of 1.3 percent is No. 1 in NFL history (albeit with only 1,873 pass attempts).
Dobbs is kind of a wild-card, but he did come through when his number was called in Week 7. This decision feels more about the guaranteed cash than anything, and Vrabel and company can only hope their plan at No. 2 quarterback doesn’t blow up in their faces over the second half of 2025.