Why Tommy DeVito Decided Not To Sign With Patriots Before Season

The New England Patriots quarterback room has been a rotating carousel of faces this season.

And at one point, New York Giants sensation Tommy DeVito almost became a part of that group.

After the Giants waived the undrafted rookie in late August as part of final roster cuts, the Patriots showed interest in DeVito and wanted to sign him to their practice squad. New England's coaching staff knew more than most about DeVito, having coached the 25-year-old at the East-West Shrine Bowl.

But despite the lure of being coached by Bill Belichick, DeVito decided against signing with the Patriots and opted to join the Giants practice squad.

DeVito's agent Sean Stellato, who rose to fame on "Monday Night Football" this week, explained why he thought his client was better off choosing the Giants over the Patriots in that moment.

"I think (Belichick) saw the value in him," Stellato told NESN.com. "They wanted to sign him to the practice squad and make it an open competition with Bailey (Zappe) for 10 days. Tommy and I both felt to comprehend a (play)book in 10 days, that's a little uphill, where you have familiarity with the Giants organization. They kind of had a game plan for you. I guess at the end of the day, we were looking at it, if they like you that much, why not claim him?"

With DeVito going back to his hometown team, the Patriots brought in several other quarterbacks throughout this season to try to solidify the position group. The Patriots signed Matt Corral, Ian Book and Will Grier all at different points while also having Malik Cunningham on the practice squad. Corral and Book didn't stick around for long while the Baltimore Ravens swooped in and signed Cunningham to their active roster earlier this week.

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Meanwhile, DeVito went on to climb his way up from New York's practice squad and cement himself with the Giants. With injuries to Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor, the Illinois product has made the most of his opportunity as New York's starter, compiling a 3-1 record.

One of those wins came in Week 12 against the Patriots. Stellato said DeVito was "100%" motivated to show the Patriots what they missed out on.

DeVito completed 17-of-25 passes for 191 yards with one touchdown to compile a 103.9 passer rating. Meanwhile, the Patriots benched Mac Jones at halftime for Zappe and both New England signal-callers finished with a passer rating below 50.

"I'm not a player, but it had more juice for me, I'm not going to lie," Stellato said. "I'm sure that was in the back of his mind. It is business but a lot of times you can't let those thoughts completely take up the real estate in your head. ... I think at the end of the day he just looked at that as another great opportunity to go up against the greatest coach in the history of the NFL and he did that."

While there's been plenty of craze over DeVito's Italian heritage and family life, he has performed well on the field. He's completed 65.9% of his passes for 855 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions going into Sunday's road matchup against the New Orleans Saints.

DeVito's football journey almost took him to the Patriots, but instead, he's flourishing with the Giants, and probably not second-guessing the decision he made months ago.