While the rest of the football world speculated about which quarterbacks New England might target in either the draft or free agency, the Patriots apparently were like, “Nah, we’re good.”
Before the 2020 NFL Draft, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller spoke with a “top” quarterback agent who represents both prospects and free agents. That agent tried to set up calls with the Patriots, but reportedly had no luck.
Check out this excerpt from Miller’s column published over the weekend:
“People around the league can’t help but think of some great Patriots conspiracy that they’ll trade up for a quarterback,” an AFC pro scout said. “First it was Baker (Mayfield), then it was Tua (Tagovaiola). Spoiler alert: They really like Stidham.”
Rumors started circling at the NFL Scouting Combine in late February that the Patriots were ready for life after Brady should he decide to walk in free agency, with one top agent telling me that he was trying to set up calls with New England to talk about his free agency or quarterback prospects in the draft.
Those calls, per the agent, came and went without a response from the Patriots. “They like the guy they have,” he told me in a predraft call.
It’s really Stidham SZN.
(via @nfldraftscout) pic.twitter.com/tR32TrHwyt
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) May 4, 2020
Time will tell if the Patriots were right to ignore other potential replacements for Tom Brady.
Miller also cited scouts around the NFL who believe the Patriots are thinking long-term with the sophomore quarterback, whom they might support via big free agency runs over the next two years.
