Every Patriots starting QB ever: full list
The New England Patriots are always going to be known as the team where Tom Brady played quarterback for two decades. While that's certainly not a bad thing, the Patriots have had their fair share of talented quarterbacks not named Tom Brady.
Unfortunately, they've also had some major duds. Let's take a trip back in time and revisit every quarterback who has started at least one game for the Patriots during their existence.
Patriots starting quarterbacks from 1960 to 1969
Name (Time spent with NE) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Patriots) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Patriots) |
|---|---|---|
Butch Songin (1960-1961) | 18 (18) | 0 (0) |
Tom Greene (1960) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Babe Parilli (1961-1967) | 83 (83) | 2 (2) |
Tom Yewcic (1961-1966) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) |
Eddie Wilson (1965) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Don Trull (1967) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
Mike Taliaferro (1968-1970) | 21 (25) | 0 (0) |
Tom Sherman (1968-1969) | 7 (7) | 0 (0) |
The Patriots were originally known as the Boston Patriots for the first decade of their existence and the first-ever quarterback to take snaps for the Boston Patriots was Butch Songin, who went on to start 18 games for them. Babe Parilli was the first consistent starter the organization had and he led the way in starts in the 1960s with 83. He also started the team's first-ever playoff game and had the only playoff starts of the decade for Patriots quarterbacks.
Patriots starting quarterbacks from 1970 to 1979
Name (Time spent with NE) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Patriots) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Patriots) |
|---|---|---|
Joe Kapp (1970) | 10 (10) | 0 (0) |
Mike Taliaferro (1968-1970) | 4 (25) | 0 (0) |
Jim Plunkett (1971-1975) | 61 (61) | 0 (0) |
Neil Graff (1974-1975) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Steve Grogan (1975-1990) | 67 (135) | 2 (3) |
The Patriots had a few talented quarterbacks in the 1970s with Steve Grogran starting the most games with 67. Jim Plunkett wasn't far behind with 61 starts but unfortunately for the Patriots, Plunkett became a star after he left New England. Grogan was a solid starter for the franchise but unfortunately it didn't lead to championships though he did make two playoff starts in the 70s.
Patriots starting quarterbacks from 1980 to 1989
Name (Time spent with NE) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Patriots) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Patriots) |
|---|---|---|
Steve Grogan (1975-1990) | 64 (135) | 1 (3) |
Matt Cavanaugh (1979-1982) | 15 (15) | 0 (0) |
Tom Owen (1976-1981) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Tony Eason (1983-1989) | 49 (49) | 5 (5) |
Tom Ramsey (1986-1988) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Bob Bleier (1987) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Doug Flutie (1987-1989, 2005) | 13 (13) | 0 (0) |
Marc Wilson (1989-1990) | 4 (10) | 0 (0) |
Steve Grogan continued to lead the way for the Patriots in the 1980s, starting 64 games for them and another playoff game before first-rounder Tony Eason eventually took over and helped lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance. Eason had five playoff starts during the decade. Doug Flutie was the only other quarterback to have dougle-digit starts for the Patriots in the 80s.
Patriots starting quarterbacks from 1990 to 1999
Name (Time spent with NE) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Patriots) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Patriots) |
|---|---|---|
Marc Wilson (1989-1990) | 6 (10) | 0 (0) |
Tommy Hodson (1990-1992) | 12 (12) | 0 (0) |
Steve Grogan (1975-1990) | 4 (135) | 0 (3) |
Hugh Millen (1991-1992) | 20 (20) | 0 (0) |
Scott Zolak (1992-1998) | 7 (7) | 1 (1) |
Jeff Carlson (1992) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Drew Bledsoe (1993-2001) | 105 (123) | 6 (6) |
Scott Secules (1993) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Grogan spent one year of the 1990s with the Patriots and the team was still trying to find their next star quarterback. They landed the number one pick in 1993 and took Washington State signal-caller Drew Bledsoe, who took them to new heights. Bledsoe started over 100 games for the organization during the 90s and made six playoff starts, including a Super Bowl appearance in the 1996 season.
Patriots starting quarterbacks from 2000 to 2009
Name (Time spent with NE) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Patriots) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Patriots) |
|---|---|---|
Drew Bledsoe (1993-2001) | 18 (123) | 0 (6) |
Tom Brady (2000-2019) | 127 (283) | 18 (41) |
Matt Cassel (2005-2008) | 15 (15) | 0 (0) |
Drew Bledsoe started the new millennium as the Patriots starting quarterback but an injury in the 2001 season sidelined him, paving the way for an unknown named Tom Brady to take over. The rest is history. Brady never relinquished the starting job for 20 years and Bledsoe was eventually traded away.
Brady won three Super Bowl titles in his first four years on the job and made 18 total playoff starts during the 00s. There were some weird seasons during his first decade, including 2002 when the team missed out on the playoffs and in 2008 when he missed nearly all of the regular-season due to an injury, which led to Matt Cassel starting 15 games. Otherwise, this was Brady's decade and deservedly do.
Patriots starting quarterbacks from 2010 to 2019
Name (Time spent with NE) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Patriots) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Patriots) |
|---|---|---|
Tom Brady (2000-2019) | 156 (283) | 23 (41) |
Jimmy Garoppolo (2014-2016) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Jacoby Brissett (2016) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Remember how I said the 2000s were Tom Brady's decade? Well, the same could be said for the 2010s. Despite not winning a Super Bowl in a decade, Brady went on another run in the mid-to-late-2010s and honestly has two separate Hall of Fame careers (one in the 2000s, another in the 2010s). He made 156 starts in the regular season and 23 playoff starts and won three more Super Bowl titles after people thought he might be nearing the end.
Th only games Brady missed during the 2010s was in the 2016 season when he was suspended for Deflategate. That led to Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett each making two starts a piece.
Patriots starting quarterbacks from 2020 to Present
Name (Time spent with NE) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Patriots) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Patriots) |
|---|---|---|
Cam Newton (2020) | 15 (15) | 0 (0) |
Brian Hoyer (2009-2011, 2017-2018, 2020-2022) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Mac Jones (2021-2023) | 42 (42) | 1 (1) |
Bailey Zappe (2022-Present) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Tom Brady left New England following the 2019, which meant 2020 marked not only a new decade for the Patriots but a new era for them as well. Cam Newton was the lucky contestant who got to attempt to fill Brady's shoes after he departed and it didn't go as well as fans hoped.
NFL journeyman Brian Hoyer had three different stints with the Patriots but it wasn't until the 2020 season that he'd actually get to start a game. Mac Jones was drafted in 2021 to be the savior but that didn't go according to plan. Bailey Zappe had some spot starts as well when it was clear that Jones wasn't the answer.
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