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After an overwhelming amount of often contradictory speculation concerning whether or not Tom Brady would take his talents elsewhere following his 20th season with the Patriots, one of the most impressive eras in the history of sports officially came to a close a couple of weeks ago when the legendary quarterback announced his time in New England had come to an end before revealing he’d be heading down to Tampa Bay to hopefully throw fewer interceptions than their previous starter did.
As a result, Bill Belichick was suddenly confronted with a problem he hasn’t really had to deal with since the turn of the millennium: finding a new guy to start under center (who is also capable of ignoring the pressure that comes with being tapped to replace one of the most talented players to ever step onto the football field).
There are currently a few pretty big names still on the market but one of them was eliminated from contention shortly after Brady’s departure according to sources who said the team had no interest in allowing Jameis Winston to take over for the man who cost him his job with the Buccaneers.
Heading into Wednesday, the Patriots had three guys on the depth chart but that number was whittled down to two after Cody Kessler was released, which means 34-year-old journeyman Brian Hoyer and recent Auburn grad Jarrett Stidham are the only guys officially in the hunt for the starting job.
New England still has some options, as Cam Newton is currently searching for a new home and the Bengals haven’t been able to unload Andy Dalton with all signs pointing to Joe Burrow taking the reins in Cincinnati.
However, according to The Athletic, the Patriots have no plans to pursue either of those guys, as the outlet reports their contingency plan has always been to give Stidham a chance to see what he can do if Brady declined to return.
It might seem a bit risky to tap an unproven fourth-round draft pick to fill the shoes of the best player to ever don a Patriots uniform but they did pretty well for themselves when they had a relatively unheralded sixth-rounder take over for Drew Bledsoe a couple of decades ago so I wouldn’t count the team out just yet.