Jacoby Brissett is the frontrunner to start at quarterback for the Patriots

The New England Patriots decided to completely overhaul their quarterback position this offseason. One of the first moves of that process was signing veteran Jacoby Brissett to a one-year deal in free agency.

For Brissett, this marked a return to his old stomping grounds. For the Patriots, it meant the addition of a proven option to a QB room in transition. What can be expected from the 31-year-old this season, though? Let’s assess.

Hard facts

Name: Jacoby Brissett

Position: Quarterback

Opening day age: 31 (12/11/1991)

Size: 6’4, 235 lbs

Jersey number: 14

Contract status: Under contract through 2024 (2025 UFA)

Experience

A four-star recruit out of high school, Brissett started his college career at the University of Florida but after seeing limited opportunities transferred to North Carolina State. In two seasons as the Wolfpack’s starting quarterback, he completed 458 of 765 pass attempts (59.8%) for 5,258 yards, 43 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while also gaining 899 yards on the ground and finding the end zone nine times.

His production, experience, and dual-threat capabilities made Brissett a target for the Patriots in the 2016 NFL Draft. The team invested the 91st overall selection in the third round to get him aboard, installing him as the No. 3 option on a depth chart also including Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo. Nonetheless, he still appeared in three games with two starts for the for the eventual Super Bowl champions.

Brissett went 34-of-55 (61.8%) for 400 yards with an additional 83 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. But even though he had shown promise, the Patriots decided to send him to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for wide receiver Phillip Dorsett ahead of the 2017 season.

Brissett spent four years as a Colt, starting 30 total games. He signed with the Miami Dolphins in 2021, adding five more starts to his résumé, before another one-and-done stint with the Cleveland Browns in 2022. After 11 starts as a Brown, he joined the Commanders in a backup capacity the following offseason.

In total, Brissett has seen action in 79 games with 48 starts. He has completed 981 of 1,600 passes at the NFL level (61.3%) for 10,574 yards with 51 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He also has scored 15 rushing touchdowns.

2023 review

Stats: 3 games (0 starts) | 46 offensive snaps (4.2%) | 18-of-23 (78.3%), 224 passing yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs | 3 carries, 19 yards

Season recap: After starting 11 games in place of a suspended Deshaun Watson for the Browns in 2022, Brissett went on to leave the team in free agency: the Commanders brought him aboard via a one-year, $8 million contract that included $7.5 million in guarantees. That deal gave him an opportunity to compete for Washington’s starting position, but he eventually lost out to Sam Howell and spent the majority of the year as QB3.

In that capacity, Brissett saw action in three games. The first opportunity came late in what was at that point a lopsided Week 13 contest versus the Miami Dolphins: the Commanders were down 45-15 when he saw his first three snaps of the season, all of them hand-offs.

Two weeks later, following Washington’s bye, he entered a game against the Los Angeles Rams down 28-7 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. Nonetheless, Brissett led back-to-back touchdown drives to make it a one-score game. L.A. ran out the clock afterwards, but he still finished the contest going 8-of-10 for 124 yards and a couple of scores.

In Week 16 versus the New York Jets, the score was 27-7 when he was brought in midway through the third period. Again, Brissett almost led a successful comeback. Completing 10 of 13 passes for 100 yards and a TD, he actually put the Commanders up 28-27 with less than five minutes to go. The Jets did score a game-winning field goal with 5 seconds on the clock.

Despite his success and the struggles of Washington’s starting QB, Brissett was never elevated to the top spot. In fact, he was inactive as an emergency No. 3 for the final two games of the season after suffering a hamstring injury,

2024 preview

What will be his role? The Patriots currently have four quarterbacks under contract, but Brissett was the top option among them during spring practices. Whether that status will remain intact heading into the season will be seen and depend primarily on first-round rookie Drake Maye’s development within the offense. Realistically, there are only two roles Brissett might play in 2024: he either will be a bridge starter until Maye is ready either down the stretch or in 2025, or serve as an experience No. 2 and mentor for the third overall selection in the draft. At this point in time, the first scenario appears to be the most likely.

What is his growth potential? Heading into his ninth season in the NFL, Brissett is well-established as a player from a strengths/weaknesses perspective. Accordingly, all growth will likely only be marginal. That said, his experience of a) already playing in New England before, and b) working under Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt from their time in Cleveland in 2022 should help him quickly adapt to his new surroundings — and possibly allow him to be more impactful than he was in Washington.

Does he have positional versatility? As a quarterback, Brissett’s positional flexibility is obviously limited. That said, within the context of his position he has shown that he can be more than “just” a pocket passer. Not counting kneel-downs, he has 190 career rushing attempts under his belt for 953 yards — an average of 5.0 yards per run — and those 15 scores mentioned earlier. Nobody will confuse him with Lamar Jackson or prime Cam Newton, but he can make plays with his feet.

What is his salary cap situation? The Patriots signed Brissett to a one-year free agency pact in March, and he is carrying a $7.882 million cap hit into the 2024 season. That number includes $6.5 million in full guarantees: both his $1.5 million salary and $5 million signing bonus fall into that category. The rest of the cap number is made up out of a $1 million roster bonus — $882,353 classified as likely to be earned and thus counting against New England’s books at the moment — and a $500,000 workout bonus.

How safe is his roster spot? Barring incident or accident, Brissett will be on the Patriots 53-man roster throughout the upcoming season. Not only is he carrying a $6.5 million dead money charge, which makes a release highly unlikely, he also currently projects as the starting quarterback. Even if Drake Maye overtakes him, he will stay ahead of the team’s current depth options Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton.

One-sentence projection: Brissett will enter the regular season as the Patriots’ QB1 and be an upgrade at the position compared to 2023, but a late bye week will allow the club to hand the keys over to Drake Maye for the final four games.

What do you think about Jacoby Brissett heading into the 2024 season? Please head down to the comment section to discuss.