Patriots Make Surprise Early QB Announcement

The New England Patriots overhauled their QB room this offseason, trading starter Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars, signing Jacoby Brissett in free agency, and drafting Drake Maye and Joe Milton III in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Maye, who was selected with the third overall pick in this year’s draft, is New England’s future franchise quarterback. However, it’s not guaranteed that the rookie will start immediately as the Patriots have a quality veteran in Brissett and do not want to rush Maye on the field.

New England officially opened training camp last week with rookies reporting. However, first-year head coach Jerod Mayo spoke to the media Tuesday and made his official declaration on the starting QB position.

Patriots News: Jacoby Brissett Named Starter to Open Training Camp

Mayo told reporters that Brissett is the starting quarterback “at this point in time,” according to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald.

Maye has made progress throughout the offseason period, but New England's best action plan is to let Brissett keep play, while the rookie quarterback learns from him. The last time we saw Brissett as a starter was in the 2022 season with the Cleveland Browns.

Brissett started in 11 games during that season for presumed starter Deshaun Watson, who completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 2,608 yards, 12 touchdowns, and six interceptions.

The Browns didn’t play their best ball with Brissett under center as they went 4-7. However, he didn’t turn the ball over a ton and kept them competitive. Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will ask Brissett to do the same until Maye shows he’s ready to take over the job full-time.

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