2021 NFL Draft: 5 Teams that should be tanking for Trevor Lawrence

2. New England Patriots

Much like the Bears, the New England Patriots probably have too talented of a defense to put on a full-blown tank in the 2020 season. Unlike the Bears, however, the Patriots are just now entering a period of uncertainty at the quarterback position. Tom Brady is now in Tampa, meaning it’ll be either Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer starting under center in New England.

In either case, there is no reason to believe right now that the Patriots have a long-term answer at quarterback. Hoyer is a career backup in terms of talent and doesn’t have a ton left in the tank. Meanwhile, Stidham is a mid-round pick entering his second NFL season. Furthermore, at best, he still has a ton of development left before he’s ready to be considered a franchise player at the position.

While it’s undoubtedly hard to imagine that Bill Belichick would do everything to outright tank a season, especially at this point in his career, he’s come close with his moves this offseason. Despite big losses, even on defense, and despite the flaws that the team had outside of quarterback, they did very little to improve their team from last season.

At the end of the day, the Patriots should be bad enough in 2019, barring Belichick magic, to either take Trevor Lawrence or make a non-crazy move up to get the quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft. And if we’re being honest, a one-year dropoff to transition from Brady to Lawrence would be highly fortunate for those in New England.