New England Patriots sign QB Brian Hoyer to three-year deal

After being cut by the 49ers earlier this week QB Brian Hoyer is back with the New England Patriots where his career began to back up the GOAT Tom Brady.

Welcome back to Foxboro Brian Hoyer! After a few seasons away, and some time spent as a starting quarterback, you’re now back where you belong — backing up the greatest QB of all-time Tom Brady.

Hoyer spent a season with the Arizona Cardinals, two with the Cleveland Browns, one with the Houston Texans, one with the Chicago Bears, and half of one with the San Fransisco 49ers. With 37 career starts under his belt now as a journeyman, Hoyer is just 16-21. To be fair though, he’s been on some pretty bad teams. A miracle is that he led the Browns to a 10-6 total record over parts of two seasons in 16 starts.

The Patriots initially signed Hoyer in 2009 after he went undrafted out of Michigan State. He appeared in 13 total games for New England over the next three seasons, but he never made a start. In those games he was 27 of 43 with one touchdown and one interception. Now, he’s back in that same role, acccording to Adam Schefter.

Hoyer reportedly signed a three-year deal with the Patriots and he is the only backup for Tom Brady. The move was expected as soon as New England traded Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers. San Fransisco released Brian Hoyer shortly after the trade, and immediately a Patriots return was rumored. The Green Bay Packers were rumored to have attempted to sign Hoyer, but the word is that he always wanted to return to New England. He’s great insurance behind Brady and his familiarity with the team and the offense will allow him to step in almost immediately. Of course, most of the personnel have changed since 2011, but the offense is mostly the same. Hoyer will be a great addition to the team.

Next: It seems like Belichick wanted to keep Garoppolo

In the Garoppolo trade the Patriots received a 2018 2nd round Draft Pick. That is expected to be a very early pick in the round, and New England could use it to draft their “QB of the future”.  Some names to keep an eye on for that spot could be Northwestern Clayton Thorson, Wyoming’s Josh Allen, Washington State Luke Falk, or Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield. The 49ers will likely not draft a QB early with Garoppolo all but a lock to re-sign there. That means some talent will find it’s way down into the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds. An extremely late round pick that the Patriots could be interested in is Western Kentucky’s Mike White. He has a standard QB build at 6’4″ 225lbs, and he’s extremely accurate. Definitely keep an eye on him during the rest of the college football season.