Damien Woody believes the Patriots will feature a new starting quarterback in the 2024 season.

Mac Jones likely can manage to keep his job for the remainder of the campaign even though New England is off to its worst start in nearly three decades. But that probably has more to do with the inferior options behind Jones rather than the organization's faith in the 2021 first-rounder.

An appealing opportunity to turn the page behind center could present itself to the Patriots in the spring, though. On pace to be one of the worst teams in football, New England potentially could use a top pick in next year's draft on one of the best quarterbacks in the class.

And if the Patriots have that chance, Woody implores his former team to take advantage of it.

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"Ultimately, I think Mac Jones' time in New England is going to come to an end," Woody told MassLive. "If the Patriots are in a position to get one of the top two quarterbacks, I'm running the card up there. To me, that's a no-brainer. First of all, their floor is higher than Mac's, and their ceiling is way higher than Mac's. So you have to take the quarterback."

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If New England ultimately plans to select a signal-caller in Round 1 next spring, it then will have a decision to make with Jones. The Patriots could either trade the Alabama product or let him compete with an incoming rookie.

Jones could be an above-average backup, but at this point, it might be in the best interest of both sides to start fresh.

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