It’s time to see if Jarrett Stidham can be the next franchise quarterback of the New England Patriots.
After 20 years together, Tom Brady departed the New England Patriots organization this offseason and signed with Tampa Bay. Initially, the Patriots seemed content on giving 2019 fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham a chance to prove he could be the successor to Brady.
Stidham never got that chance, as the Patriots soon agreed on a one-year deal with former Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who obviously was named the starter. Newton looked like a good addition for the first month of the season, but he’s been off ever since testing positive for COVID-19 and, despite the Patriots slowly climbing back into the playoff race, he crumpled against the Rams on Thursday night.
Newton was so bad against the Rams that Bill Belichick put Stidham in once it was obvious the Patriots weren’t going to win. Stidham went 5-of-7 for 27 yards and is 18-of-33 for 212 yards, two touchdowns,and three interceptions in his four appearances so far this season.
The New England Patriots need to see what they have with Jarrett Stidham.
After Thursday’s lackluster performance, Newton won’t (or at least shouldn’t) be back with the Patriots in 2021. He’s only signed to a one-year deal and that was to see if he had anything left in the tank. He’s been a good quarterback throughout his career, but it’s clear he’s not the same kind of player he once was.
With just four games remaining in the 2020 season, New England’s playoff hopes are all but dashed. They now need to shift the focus on seeing what all they have with Stidham and they can do that by letting him start these final four games, or at least playing in a good chunk of those games.
Stidham hasn’t been anything special to this point, but he hasn’t had a single NFL start under his belt to this point. If the Patriots felt comfortable giving him the reins earlier this year, why not see what he can do now? The worst that happens is he doesn’t play well and then they know for sure they can move on and find another quarterback for 2021 and beyond.
The best-case scenario is that Stidham kicks butt in the final four games and the Patriots don’t have to put as strong of an emphasis on the position this offseason. Stidham is on his rookie contract so he’s cheap and the team could find position players (like wide receiver, something they’ve been afraid to arm their quarterbacks with) to surround him.
The Cam Newton project didn’t work for the Patriots, but they need to find out what they have in Jarret Stidham and these final four games are the perfect time to do just that.