We were all devastated when the legendary Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, announced he was leaving New England in March after 20 years. Brady will be joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Patriots fans are left with an important question. Who will be the next Patriots quarterback?

The 2020 NFL draft was held from April 23 to April 25. Surprisingly, the Patriots did not draft a quarterback. One reason why the Patriots didn’t sign during the draft was their limit on salary cap space, meaning they just couldn’t afford a player like Andy Dalton or Cam Newton. The Patriots did take Justin Rohrwasser of Marshall University to replace their previous kicker, Stephen Gostkowski. They also added two new tight ends to the team, Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene. In addition, New England drafted two offensive linebackers, an offensive tackle, a center, a safety, a guard, and a linebacker. 

New England is known for making unexpected decisions when it comes to the draft. Tom Brady himself was a 6th round pick.  Bill Belichick signed Brian Hoyer, a veteran quarterback, who previously played for the Indianapolis Colts. Brian Hoyer will serve as a mentor for the quarterback the Patriots already have, Jarrett Stidham. Stidham was drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft. In October 2019, Belichick shared his first impression of Stidham: “Jarrett is a smart kid. He picks things up very quickly. He has a good grasp of the offense given where he is in his career. He’s handled everything we’ve thrown at him. In practice, he does a good job. He gets a lot of passes on our defense and when he has the opportunity to get the offensive snaps, he’s prepared and does a good job of those. But you know, it’s always different in the game. I think he’s doing all he can do.” 

The 2020 season will be the first in 20 years without the iconic Tom Brady and Bill Belichick duo. It will be interesting to see how Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer will fit into the team and how they will find a way to (hopefully) make it to the Superbowl in February.

Erica Brown ’22, Co Assistant Editor-in-Chief

22ebrown@montroseschool.org