Tom Brady returning to the New England Patriots remains as uncertain as ever but could they look to former No. 2 pick Marcus Mariota to replace him?
Every move Tom Brady makes with NFL free agency roughly two weeks away is under the microscope. On Saturday, he attended a college basketball game with New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman and a fun exchange of “He’s coming back” from Edelman followed by “He’s not” from Brady sent social media into a frenzy.
Such is life for Patriots fans and NFL fans at large this offseason. As crazy as it may still seem, it’s looking increasingly possible that the six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback could leave New England in free agency. Where he will land should he do so is as up in the air as any aspect of this but it’s possible that who the Patriots could look at to replace him is taking some sort of shape.
According to Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network at the NFL Combine, the buzz is that the Patriots are interested in another free-agent quarterback, former No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota. Mariota is also reportedly a hot name for teams with an open quarterback competition right now but the Patriots are one of the teams interested.
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If Brady leaves, the incumbent starter at quarterback for the Patriots would be 2019 mid-round pick Jarrett Stidham. Though there’s promise there, that’s hardly an option that New England wants to be forced to roll with. Thus, in the event that they lose the future Hall-of-Famer they’ve had under center for two decades, they’ll leave no stone unturned.
Subsequently, it shouldn’t be a shock that they’re looking at Mariota early. The No. 2 overall pick was benched by the Titans this past season in his fifth year as he continued to produce mediocre results. How Tennessee performed when Ryan Tannehill took over was damning as they went on a late-season run and eventually made the AFC Championship Game after a 2-4 start with Mariota.
While that may be true, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is never afraid of a challenge and, after all, there are reasons Mariota was the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. He showed elite accuracy, ball-security and some electric playmaking at Oregon. And perhaps New England believes they can do a better job mining that out of him in the NFL than Tennessee possibly could.
Having said that, if Tom Brady doesn’t suit up for the Patriots in the 2020 NFL season, believing that Mariota alone would be their only option — Stidham aside — at quarterback would be foolhardy. New England would be best-served to bring in other possible options to compete for the starting job.
Not only would competition potentially push Mariota to unlock his talents in a new system and environment but it would put the Patriots in a spot where they’ll be able to find their best option if they no longer have Brady. And to be sure, seeing if Mariota is there best option would be well worth signing him.