The free agency period has started and the New England Patriots decided to waste no time to make a move. Only a day after trading Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Foxborough team is reportedly landing Jacoby Brissett.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the veteran quarterback is returning to New England on a one-year, $8 million deal. Brissett, 31, spent his rookie season at Gillette Stadium in 2016 before bouncing around different teams in the league.
The Patriots are making a significant change at quarterback after three years with Jones, who lost the starting job to Bailey Zappe on Bill Belichick‘s watch halfway through the 2023 campaign. While the 6x Super Bowl champion coach is no longer at the helm, the Patriots are still looking for something different in an offense that now will be run by Alex Van Pelt.
Brissett, a familiar face for the Patriots and their new offensive staff
The Pats’ new offensive coordinator and many of his assistants know Brissett well from their time together in Cleveland, where the veteran QB made quite an impression for the Browns in 2022.
That season, Brissett threw for 2,608 yards with 12 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in 11 starts as the franchise waited for Deshaun Watson. His last team were the Washington Commanders, but he only made three appearances in the capital city last year.
Before spending time with the Indianapolis Colts (2017-2020) and Miami Dolphins (2021), the Florida native served as the Patriots’ third-string quarterback behind Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo in his rookie season in 2016.
With Garoppolo out due to a shoulder injury while Brady was still serving a four-game suspension for the Deflategate scandal, Brissett got to make two starts for the Pats. In those games, he completed 34 of his 55 passes for 400 yards, with no touchdowns nor interceptions and three fumbles.
That year, Brissett ended up getting his first and only Super Bowl ring in his career so far as the Patriots pulled off a historic, 25-point comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI on February 5, 2017.
Second chapter looks different for Brissett, Patriots
The times have changed in Foxborough, with the Patriots falling apart since Brady left in 2020. Brissett is also a different man, as he’s no longer the inexperienced QB that came to learn from the older quarterbacks.
With eight NFL seasons under his belt and having played for different teams, the former third-round pick is now bringing his experience to help New England transition to a new rookie.
The Patriots hold the third overall pick in this year’s draft, and their recent activity suggests they’ll be using their first selection on a quarterback. Brissett means an insurance in case the new kid on the block is not ready to take over in Week 1, or at least lets the team know it has a reliable backup.