Patriots Are Insane if They Stick With Jarrett Stidham This Offseason After Losing Tom Brady

For the first time in a long time, the New England Patriots don't have a sure fire quarterback under center. Tom Brady, whom the Patriots drafted in 1999, opted to leave in free agency to join the loaded offense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That leaves the question of: who will be the new Patriots starting quarterback in 2020?

According to NFL Network's Mike Silver, the answer is an easy one: Jarrett Stidham.

That's right, the Patriots are handling things in-house.

New England knew that Brady would eventually leave them, but thought it'd come in the form of retirement instead of via the open market. Either way, the Patriots had a bit of a contingency plan, as they opted to select Stidham in the fourth round out of Auburn in last year's NFL Draft.

Stidham saw limited playing time last season due to Brady, but he was a two year starter with the Tigers in college. In his two seasons down in Auburn, Stidham threw for 5,952 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions on a 63.6 completion percentage.

Stidham put up respectable numbers in the tough SEC, but as a draft prospect that was a mixed bag. His sophomore season showed promise, while draft analysts said his junior campaign showed that he lost confidence and picked up the tendency of being antsy in the pocket once he felt defensive pressure.

Head coach Bill Belichick struck gold with Brady, a sixth-round pick. It's highly doubtful that Stidham can follow the same trajectory as his 42-year-old counterpart. But hey, we've seen crazy things happen in the NFL. Either way, expect the Patriots to bring in a veteran to compete with Stidham.