What QB Move Should Patriots Make After Cutting Brian Hoyer?

The New England Patriots reportedly plan to release veteran backup quarterback Brian Hoyer once the new league year begins next Wednesday.

On its own, that impending move has little significance.

Hoyer, who landed on injured reserve after his Week 4 concussion and never returned, is the Patriots’ QB3 behind Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe. The 37-year-old has been a valuable mentor for New England’s young signal-callers, but Zappe’s emergence as a capable NFL player pushed Hoyer out of the top backup spot, and he was unlikely to reclaim that this offseason.

The departure of Hoyer does, however, mean the Patriots will be adding at least one new quarterback in the coming weeks or months. The question is how — and whom.

Since nearly every NFL team carries three or more quarterbacks into training camp, expect the Patriots to bring in another to complement their current duo, be it a veteran free agent signing, draft pick or undrafted free agent. Which QB they choose will say a lot about the level of confidence they have in Jones.

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Here’s a closer look at their possible paths:

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The Patriots theoretically could go out and sign Jimmy Garoppolo, reuniting Bill Belichick with the prodigal son he begrudgingly traded away in 2017. But doing so wouldn’t make much sense.

A young starting QB on a rookie contract is a tremendous asset in the NFL, allowing a team to devote additional resources to loading up at other positions. Why would the Patriots pay Garoppolo in the neighborhood of $30 million when they have Jones — whose ceiling should be similar or perhaps even higher with Matt Patricia out and Bill O’Brien now installed as offensive coordinator — making $4.2 million this season and $5 million in 2024? They also have a viable and even cheaper No. 2 in Zappe, who played well in his two starts to date and could push Jones for the top spot this summer.

It seems more likely that, if the Patriots do sign an experienced QB this offseason, it would be a player who’s settled into a backup role (a la Hoyer) or a bottom-of-the-roster camp arm (think Garrett Gilbert, who spent most of this season on New England’s practice squad).

Quarterbacks who fall in one of those two camps and are set to hit free agency next week include:

Jacoby Brissett
Teddy Bridgewater
Gardner Minshew
Case Keenum
Cooper Rush
Tyler Huntley
Mason Rudolph
Drew Lock
Mike White
Kyle Allen
Brandon Allen
Jeff Driskel
Brett Rypien
P.J. Walker
John Wolford
Nathan Peterman

If the Patriots do bring in a starting-caliber QB — even if it’s a low-level one like Baker Mayfield — that would be a clear sign that they lack faith in Jones.

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With Jones now in Year 3, the Patriots might not feel the need to have a veteran mentor type in the QB room. And Belichick never has shied away from drafting passers, regardless of the team’s current setup at the position.

The Patriots have selected a quarterback in 13 of their 23 Belichick-era drafts — more than half — including four of the last five. Even if Jones did look like a no-doubt franchise QB, it wouldn’t be shocking to see New England draft another signal-caller this year. That’s something they often did even during the peak of Tom Brady’s tenure, and only a few of the players they drafted were true late-round fliers. Most came off the board in Rounds 2-4.

It behooves teams to constantly seek out young, promising quarterbacks who could either challenge their incumbent starter, bolster their own depth chart or become assets to eventually trade, as the Patriots did with Garoppolo, Brissett and Jarrett Stidham.

So, while QB is low on the Patriots’ current list of draft needs, it wouldn’t be overly surprising to see them target a player like Houston’s Clayton Tune, Fresno State’s Jake Haener, TCU’s Max Duggan or UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the mid-to-late rounds. Maybe even Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, if the knee injury that ended his 2022 season causes him to slide.

The Patriots also could wait and sign an undrafted quarterback. That’s how they added Brian Lewerke in 2020 and, most notably, Hoyer in 2009. New England also signed multitalented UDFA D’Eriq King after last year’s draft but cut him before spring camp.

It was interesting, though, that the Patriots chose to formally interview one of this year’s top QB prospects — Florida’s Anthony Richardson — last week at the NFL Scouting Combine. Richardson was projected as a top-10 pick before his record-setting combine workout, so the odds of him even being attainable for the Patriots are slim. Pre-draft meetings also don’t necessarily mean that a team has real interest in a player.

But the Richardson sitdown raised the question of how the Patriots would proceed in the unlikely event that one of the premier QBs fell to them at No. 14, even though they have much more pressing needs elsewhere (offensive tackle, wide receiver, cornerback, etc.).