Barring an unforeseen change, it appears the Patriots are going to enter the 2020 season with the starting quarterback job as Jarrett Stidham’s to lose.
New England’s soon-to-be second-year quarterback and Brian Hoyer are the two signal-callers on the depth chart, not including undrafted free agents Brian Lewerke and J’Mar Smith. The Patriots over the last couple months have passed on a handful of free-agent veteran quarterbacks, which is as clear a sign as ever that they like what they have in the Auburn product.
However, ESPN’s Dan Graziano published a story Friday on how “married” to their starting quarterback each NFL team was. It’s worth noting that the rankings were purely economical, so Stidham was 31st in the league, only leading the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Gardner Minshew.
“A fourth-round pick in 2019, Stidham’s entire guarantee was a $636,112 signing bonus,” Graziano wrote. “The Patriots are scheduled to pay him about $2.5 million total over the next three years, none of it guaranteed. Since he was not a first-round pick, there’s no fifth-year option for 2023. Basically, if Stidham doesn’t work out, he’ll cost the Patriots close to nothing.”
Indeed, the Patriots don’t have a ton of money tied to Stidham, which is a plus given how tight up against the salary cap they are. But while they might not be as “married” to Stidham from a dollars and cents standpoint compared to other teams, it sure sounds like they’re going to give him every opportunity to become a mainstay under center.
