In Patriots’ New-Look Quarterback Room, Brian Hoyer Is A Familiar Face

“Brian’s played a lot of football.”

Last August, that was head coach Bill Belichick’s reasoning for why quarterback Brian Hoyer did not see the field in the New England Patriots’ preseason dress rehearsal.

The established backup to Tom Brady was one of 17 members of the roster sidelined that evening at Gillette Stadium. But Jarrett Stidham checked in with 7:34 left before halftime versus the Carolina Panthers. And the 23-year-old rookie by way of Baylor and Auburn stayed in.

Over 49 snaps behind center in New England’s offense, Stidham went 15-of-19 passing for 134 yards. He would be sacked five times. He’d scramble once for six yards and take a pair of kneel-downs.

The Patriots released Hoyer during NFL cuts the following week. The 34-year-old had sat out the summer finale against the New York Giants, as well.

It was game Stidham started and finished.

“He’s a true veteran and a true pro,” Stidham, the AFC preseason leader in passing yards, told reporters of Hoyer as the page turned to September, “and I couldn’t be more thankful for him.”

Hoyer agreed to terms with the Indianapolis Colts before the regular season kicked off. The three-year, $12 million contract he signed gave way to four appearances and one start in place of an injured Jacoby Brissett. Yet as former San Diego and Los Angeles Charger Philip Rivers signed this March, Indianapolis moved on from Hoyer.

A day later, the Michigan State product returned to the club he entered the league with as an undrafted free agent in 2009.

Hoyer is scheduled to earn $1.05 million from the Patriots and had $2 million due from the Colts in 2020. With the offset language, as detailed by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, $2 million is guaranteed in the one-year deal before incentives.

The upcoming tour marks Hoyer’s third with the Patriots. Along the way have been stops with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers.

Hoyer previously made his way back to New England as Jimmy Garoppolo exited for San Francisco at the 2017 trade deadline. The Super Bowl LIII champion does so now as competition and a veteran set of eyes for Stidham.

There are parallels to last spring and summer. There are also starting stakes.

Hoyer has started 38 career games and attempted 1,477 passes. Stidham has appeared in three games and attempted four passes. As Belichick noted in that August press conference, one has played “a lot of football” and the other hasn’t.

They make up the QB room after New England released Cody Kessler on Wednesday.

Ahead are a dozen selections, beginning at No. 23 overall, with four within the NFL draft’s initial 100. The names to monitor range from Utah State’s Jordan Love and Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts to Washington’s Jacob Eason and Washington State’s Anthony Gordon.

Although at this stage, the Patriots’ Week 1 starter projects to be a name currently under contract.

Brady’s exit for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers left $13.5 million in dead money, and the two quarterbacks remaining account for less than $1.9 million of New England’s cap space. For now, according to cap expert Miguel Benzan, the organization has just north of $1.1 million left to work with prior to signing its 2020 draft class.

New England will see what it has. With Hoyer, there’s value in already knowing. With Stidham, there’s value in finding out.

Those timelines coincide.