Drake Maye will reportedly have a new backup in 2026, and the frontrunner for the New England Patriots’ No. 2 quarterback job could signal bigger things on the horizon for the reigning AFC Champions.
After re-signing Tommy DeVito on a new two-year deal earlier this offseason, the Patriots are reportedly moving on from 2025 backup Joshua Dobbs, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The move both creates a need in New England’s QB room while clearing the decks for DeVito to emerge as Maye’s top backup this year.
According to Rapoport, the Patriots were hoping to trade Dobbs, but were unable to find a partner. The 31-year-old appeared in four games for the Patriots in 2025 and did his job, including a key series of plays in a Week 7 road win over the Tennessee Titans after Maye exited the game to be evaluated for a concussion.
This move probably says more about what DeVito’s been proving behind the scenes than Dobbs’ production. The Patriots claimed the former undrafted free agent of the New York Giants last summer, and if they’re ready to promote him to QB2, they’ll enter 2026 with one of the cheapest QB rooms in football — creating a clear window to go all-in on the final years of Maye's rookie-scale contract.
Patriots’ QB shakeup quietly creates a major roster-building advantage
No one should be calling Dobbs a “cap casualty.” The Patriots currently have one of the healthiest salary cap situations in football. There’s a clear monetary component to this move, though.
The Patriots will eat a little over $1 million in dead money with Dobbs’ release, according to Over the Cap, while gaining about $3.7 million in immediate cap space; Dobbs’ 2026 cap hit was scheduled to be $4.75 million.
That would have been a team-friendly number for Dobbs, but DeVito comes even cheaper. He signed a two-year, $4.4 million deal on March 6 that includes just $2 million in guarantees. That compares more closely to QB3 money, so if DeVito indeed ascends to the top backup role in training camp, with Maye still in the middle of his rookie-scale contract, New England would have a clear roster advantage over its AFC counterparts currently managing mega QB salaries on their books.
What the Patriots do to take advantage of that financial leverage is now their biggest question of their 2026 offseason.
Maye’s mega extension is coming, potentially as soon as the summer of 2027. The team could also be planning to make Christian Gonzalez one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in NFL history in short order.
Still, the team has created a clear window. In terms of real cash currently owed to the quarterback position, the Patriots now owe the fourth-fewest in football entering 2026, with Maye set to earn $4.1 million in cash, per Spotrac. (Maye took home $23.4 million of his fully-guaranteed $36.6 million rookie contract in Year 1.)
The Dobbs move is minor, but it could be the first of another major domino to fall. Most notably, the jersey No. 11 is now available for A.J. Brown, who everyone’s expecting to land in Foxboro via trade, most likely after the league’s June 1 cutoff for salary cap purposes.
Mike Vrabel and company have no excuses. They identified DeVito a year ago, and he’s clearly developing within the program. They’ve got all the ammunition needed to operate from a position of strength in this new league year, and Patriots fans should be expecting nothing less at this point.