Our final installment of the Patriots training camp positional breakdown ends with a position that has virtually no questions surrounding who the starter will be.
It’s the quarterback position, and the team’s starter is 40 years old and in the best shape of his life.
What’s left to say about Tom Brady that hasn’t already been said about God? OK, maybe that’s a little stretch, but the fact is Brady is a god to Patriots fans . . . and perhaps the devil to fans of every other NFL team.
And you really can’t blame either side for feeling the way they do.
Brady is going into his 18th season with the Patriots, which will give him the record for most seasons as a quarterback with one team. But really, that record pales in comparison to the other ones Brady holds for quarterbacks.
He’s got 208 career wins – an all-time record. He’s got five Super Bowl championships – an all-time record. He’s also got the all-time records for starts (34), wins (25), passing yards (9,094), completions (831), and touchdowns (63) in the playoffs.
He’s led the Patriots to an NFL-record 14 division championships (apologies to the rest of the AFC East).
We could keep going, but there’s a word count we have to keep this to. To sum it up, Brady is making his case for the best quarterback of all-time an easier argument by the season. And if he plays into his mid-40’s like he’s said he wants to, it may not even be up for discussion at all.
Brady goes into the 2017 season as one of if not the best quarterbacks in the NFL, with a full arsenal at his disposal, which now includes newly acquired Brandin Cooks.
NFL pundits and fans have wondered when Brady will begin to show signs of old age or rust, but so far wonder – and little to no proof – is all they have to show.
But that hasn’t stopped the Patriots from at lest appearing to be preparing for the future – or at least what they feel is a strong insurance plan if something were to *gasp* happen to TB12.
Jimmy Garoppolo will serve as the team’s backup to Brady in his fourth season in the NFL. Garoppolo impressed many during his fill-in duty for Brady at the beginning of the 2016 season – at least until he was injured in the second quarter of his second game.
Apparently he showed enough to reportedly draw interest from other teams around the NFL over the offseason, but the Patriots were not willing to part with their backup.
The questions still remain: will the Patriots look to sign Garoppolo to an extenuation as continued insurance and the eventual replacement to Brady? Will they trade Garoppolo during the season? Or will they let him walk?
The third quarterback on the roster is Jacoby Brissett, who is in his second year in the NFL. Like Garoppolo, the future of Brissett with the Patriots is a little bit up in the air, though the Patriots control him for a few more seasons.
Patriots position preview: Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett
