Who Will Be Patriots' Starting QB in 2020?
This is going to be a fun 48-72 hours as we wait for Tom Brady to find his new home. All indications are a return to New England is no longer the most likely outcome. According to betting outlets, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now the prohibitive favorites at odds of -150 to land the HOF-bound signal caller.
According to the betting odds from BetOnline, Teddy Bridgewater (+275), Andy Dalton (+350), Marcus Mariota (+450), Jarrett Stidham (7/1) and Derek Carr (8/1) are the top five most likely quarterbacks to be under center for the Patriots in Week 1 of the 2020 season if Brady doesn't re-sign.
In all honesty, I am not really sold on any of these top betting options. If I was forced to pick among the favorites, I would go with Stidham (7/1) or Andy Dalton at (+350). In this scenario, I could see the Patriots bringing in the former Heisman Trophy winner to battle it out with the former Auburn Tigers standout who is currently listed as the starter on the Patriots' depth chart should Brady depart.
However, there is one option who jumps off the page offering intriguing value.
With all this talk about Brady heading down to Florida to play in Bruce Arians' aerial attack, what better way could Bill Belichick replace Brady than with the player the Buccaneers cast off, Jameis Winston (20/1)? Belichick would have his hands full mentoring Winston, who threw a league-high 30 interceptions to 33 touchdowns last season while throwing 14 interceptions to 19 touchdowns in 2018. Last year, the former Florida State standout saw his completion percentage drop to 60.7, his lowest since his rookie campaign in 2015.
As high as the interception rate is, we also have to realize that a 33-touchdown, 5,000-passing-yard quarterback is not something we normally find on the open market. When he’s at his best, Winston has shown he is a top-10 signal caller in the NFL. However, when he is careless with the ball, he offsets all the positives and draws the ire of coaches. If there was ever a coach who could reign him in, why not perhaps one of the best to ever walk the sidelines in league history?
Brady threw for 4,057 yards, 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 60.8 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 88 last season in New England. So by stats alone, the Patriots realize they need to get younger and move on from the aging star.
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