The New England Patriots are facing uncertainty at quarterback this offseason. Tom Brady will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason for the first time in his career and it seems possible that he will leave New England. In fact, one ESPN reporter even said that he'd be "stunned" if Brady returns to the Patriots.
So, the Pats may find themselves looking for a new starting QB. Luckily for them, they may be looking at one of the best free-agent quarterback classes ever, so they should have a chance to add a talented player if Brady walks.
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And it appears that they are at least looking into one of the other passers on the market.
Per Pro Football Network's Tony Pauline, the Patriots are showing interest in free-agent quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Keep this in the back of your mind – with all the uncertainty surrounding Tom Brady, the New England Patriots are showing interest in soon to be free agent quarterback Marcus Mariota. The former first-round pick is being courted by several teams who may have an open competition at quarterback.
Mariota was selected No. 2 overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2015 draft. Though he started his career off well, he plateaued after leading the team to the playoffs in 2017. His TD-INT ratio dropped from 45-to-19 in his first two seasons to 31-to-25 over the course of the next three. And after a 2-4 start to the 2019 season, in which the Titans offense just averaged 14 points per game, he was replaced by Ryan Tannehill and didn't start again.
New England Patriots
Still, Mariota has upside. He's only 26 and if he can shake the nagging elbow injury that has plagued him the past couple of years, perhaps he'll return to the form he demonstrated earlier in his career.
While Mariota could be a sensible option for the Patriots, as our own Phil Perry noted in a recent piece, they may have competition if they do try to sign him. Pauline noted that the Colts have an interest in Mariota.