Four Trade Options For Patriots To Consider To Acquire Quarterback

There are plenty of avenues in which the New England Patriots can obtain a new starting quarterback for next season.

Perhaps the easiest is using the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to get their quarterback of the future. There will be chances in free agency to pluck a signal-caller, too, whether it’s Kirk Cousins or a reunion with Jacoby Brissett.

The Patriots could always explore a trade, which would be more difficult than the two previous options but not impossible. There are teams who will be willing to part with their current quarterback, but the Patriots would have to meet the right price.

But what quarterbacks could the Patriots target on the trade market? Here are four options for them to consider and we purposely left out Russell Wilson and Jimmy Garoppolo since it’s likely their respective teams will end up cutting them.

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Justin Fields, Chicago Bears
Trade rumors have swirled around Fields for quite a while now. The Bears have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft and presumably will use the selection on USC standout Caleb Williams.

That puts Chicago in a dilemma when it comes to Fields, who the Bears drafted 11th overall in 2021 — four picks before the Patriots selected Mac Jones.

Fields came on late last season but the Bears might believe it’s better to hand things over to Williams with Fields going 10-28 as the team’s starter. A fresh start with New England could reinvigorate the Ohio State product and help him build off the momentum he created.

Fields’ biggest asset is his dual-threat ability. He ran for 657 yards with four touchdowns this past season and was even more dangerous on the ground in 2022 when he rushed for 1,143 yards and eight scores. But while Fields can make a ton of plays on the ground, he’s a suspect passer. He completed 61.4% of his passes in 2023, which was a career high but worse than a lot of other marginal quarterbacks — like Kenny Pickett and Tommy DeVito — in the league.

If the Patriots believe they can develop Fields, who turns 25 in March, as a passer, they could be getting the store brand version of Lamar Jackson.

Sam Howell, Washington Commanders
This certainly isn’t a scintillating choice for the Patriots. But the Commanders own the draft pick right before New England and most likely will nab a franchise quarterback at that spot.

That makes Howell expendable, who started all 17 games for the Commanders this season. He even went into Foxboro in early November and bested the Patriots by completing 29-of-45 passes for 325 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Howell, who Washington took in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of North Carolina, had an up-and-down season. He had a strong showing through the first 10 weeks of the campaign, tossing 17 touchdowns to nine interceptions while completing 66.5% of his passes. But Howell fell off after that, throwing 12 picks compared to four touchdowns.

Howell is a gunslinger, leading the league in 2023 with 612 pass attempts and 21 interceptions. The 23-year-old had only three games in which he didn’t throw a pick.

But if the Patriots believe they can reel in Howell and keep his mistakes to a minimum, he might be worth pursuing.

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Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
There’s no debating Murray’s talent, but the 2019 No. 1 overall pick hasn’t lived up to the high expectations during his five seasons with the Cardinals. Murray owns a 28-36-1 record as a starter.

There’s only one real reason why the Cardinals would want to trade Murray and that’s to get out out his behemoth contract. Arizona signed the 26-year-old to a five-year, $230.5 million deal in July 2022.

Taking on that contract won’t be easy work, but obtaining Murray and surrounding him with talent could put New England’s rebuild on the fast track.

Murray’s dual-threat nature makes him an enticing quarterback. He threw for over 3,700 yards with 20-plus touchdowns in each of his first three seasons and ran for 11 scores during the 2020 campaign.

Murray showed his value when he returned midway through last season after recovering from a torn ACL. The lowly Cardinals were 1-8 when he came back, but he went 3-5 as the starter, including notching an impressive road win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Murray should be even better further removed from the significant injury, but the Patriots trading for Murray all comes down to if there are willing to give up a sizable package for him and take on the contract as well.

Davis Mills, Houston Texans
Like Howell, Mills isn’t going to draw much fanfare. But he’s in a spot where he’s no longer the starter thanks to C.J. Stroud’s sensational rookie season.

Mills doesn’t have anywhere close to eye-popping stats, but he can’t be any worse than Jones or Bailey Zappe, right?

Mills, who the Texans selected in the third round in 2021, showed flashes as rookie that he could be competent at the quarterback position. He threw for 2,664 yards in 13 games with 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He followed that up with a sloppy second season in which the Stanford product threw a league-leading 15 picks.

The Patriots reportedly had interest in Mills before the 2021 draft and even with a new regime in place, they could look to finally get their hands on the signal-caller.

But trading for Mills would only present a slight upgrade over Jones and Zappe.