New England Patriots have their next guy in Jarrett Stidham

The most heavily debated subject about the New England Patriots is who their next starting quarterback should be. The truth is, they already have their guy.

Tom Brady is gone, and with him goes a lot of optimism about the New England Patriots and their chances of being a legit threat to win another Super Bowl in the near future.

While it’s certainly fair to say that the Patriots are not better off without Brady, the fact of the matter is that Bill Belichick is still around. As long as that is the case, they should not be counted out.

As for who the next starting quarterback should be, plenty of names have been thrown around. Seasoned veterans such as Andy Dalton and Cam Newton have gotten buzz. Even Jameis Winston has been brought up recently now that Brady has taken his place on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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However, the best candidate to start at quarterback for the Patriots is already on the team, and it certainly isn’t the recently signed Brian Hoyer.

Jarrett Stidham should be the starter in 2020, and Hoyer returning is an indicator that Stidham will in fact be taking the mantle. To me, this is the smartest move for the Patriots.

First of all, as of now they don’t exactly have a choice. The Patriots currently have just around $4 million in cap space. This can change with some roster maneuvering, but it’s difficult to believe that they will be able to do enough to take on the contract of Cam Newton or Andy Dalton. It would also be a tall task to meet Jameis Winston’s reportedly high demand in terms of salary.

The Patriots knew that Tom Brady would move on at some point. While they may not have been fully prepared for him to be gone this soon, I’m not convinced that they drafted Stidham with the intention of having him warm the bench for the entirety of his rookie contract. It might have to happen earlier than they intended, but Stidham deserves a chance to prove himself.

What do the New England Patriots have to lose?

Either Jarett Stidham turns out to be a baller and they will have potentially stolen another franchise quarterback in the later stages of the draft, or he isn’t cut out for the job in which case the team will likely be bad enough to have a high pick in the 2021 draft and the chance to take a more established prospect at the position.

As much as it would hurt to see the Patriots waste a season of Bill Belichick’s historic but waning career in the event that Stidham doesn’t have what it takes, it could potentially benefit the team in the long run. Or, perhaps they were onto something when they took Stidham in the fourth round last year and he is able to help them maintain their status as perennial playoff contenders.

Either way, I’d rather see what Stidham can do as the Patriots’ starting quarterback than watch them plod their way to an 8-8 season under Andy Dalton. It would also certainly be preferable to gazing in horror at Jameis Winston tossing it up into double coverage constantly or witnessing the oft-injured Cam Newton play decent for five games before his glass bones and paper skin deteriorate again.

Next. Draft needs post-Tom Brady. dark

There’s no reason not to give Jarett Stidham the reigns in 2020, and if Bill Belichick decides to do so then who are we to question his judgement?

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