The Patriots revamped quarterback room has two rookies, mainly third overall draft choice Drake Maye, who are expected to be the future in New England's offensive rebuild.
However, the present might be a familiar face in former Patriots draft pick Jacoby Brissett. After selecting Brissett with the 91st overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, the now 31-year-old only spent his rookie season in New England. With Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo ahead of him on the depth chart, the Pats traded Brissett to the Colts after his second preseason in Foxboro.
Since making two starts as a rookie, Brissett has made 46 starts with four different teams. Most recently, he appeared in three games with the Commanders last season, while Brissett made 11 starts with new Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt with the Browns in the 2022 season.
With several connections to New England, Brissett signed a one-year deal as a free agent to be the veteran in the quarterback room six and a half years after being traded by the Patriots. Although he's here to potentially start the season at quarterback, head coach Jerod Mayo has also made Brissett's role clear as a mentor to Maye and a young core on offense.
Brissett spoke to the media for the first time since signing with the Patriots in March about his mentorship role and experience in Van Pelt's offense from his time in Cleveland on Thursday at Gillette Stadium.
"When I was here the first time, you realize everybody's your mentor that's older than you in this league or has more experience, and I hope I'm that for more than just Drake," Brissett said. "I'm a teammate first. I can be a good teammate to not only [Maye] but to everybody on this team."
Brissett's priority is to compete for the starting quarterback job this season, but the veteran quarterback acknowledged that Maye has already been using him as a resource.
"I'm excited to work with him. I remember when I was following Tom [Brady] around," Brissett said. "He's already texting me about plays and how I think about things and cadence – all the little nuances of being in this position at this level."
The first time Brissett and Maye were in the Patriots facility together wasn't their first in-person meeting, though. According to the veteran QB, he and Maye played golf together earlier this offseason with a mutual former teammate, Sam Howell. Howell was at North Carolina at the same time as Maye, while Brissett was in Washington with Howell in 2023.
Ultimately, the Patriots will turn the offense over to Maye when he's ready to play. When you draft a quarterback third overall, he's going to play when the time is right. Still, Brissett said all four quarterbacks, including third-year QB Bailey Zappe, are eager to compete for the opportunity as the Patriots offseason program continues at Gillette Stadium.
"I think the good thing about our room is honestly everybody wants to be the guy. Everybody's competing to be the guy. That's what you want," Brissett said. "If none of us wanted to play, then our room would be messed up. Like we would be in bad hands in this organization. I think everybody understands that, and everybody wants to play."
Along with competing and mentoring the young quarterbacks, Brissett also outlined what makes offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt's offense tick and how it helps the quarterback play at a high level.
"It's about the players, and he understands that. He molds it around the guys we have on our team. Obviously, he played the position and has experiences in a lot of other places where he's been successful," Brissett explained. "We're still learning what we are going to be. Obviously, the end goal is to score a lot of points. The cool thing is we have a lot of good players at a lot of different positions who can do a bunch of things."
Brissett also offered his early impressions of Jerod Mayo in his first spring as the head coach in New England, pointing to Mayo's emphasis on empowering the players to lead the locker room.
"The cool thing is you can tell he's trying to make the players on the team run the team. Obviously, he's the head coach setting the standard. But he definitely puts a lot of responsibility on us players," Brissett said of his new head coach.
The Patriots hope the future is bright at the quarterback position after selecting Maye early in last month's draft. However, the entire offseason was set up for a rookie quarterback to enter the fold, with Brissett as a major signing to serve as a bridge starter and mentor. For Brissett, a return to where it all began presents a moment to reflect on his first stint in New England.
"I was 22, 23 years old. I was a kid in a candy store. Excited to be drafted and playing behind the greatest quarterback of all time and for the greatest coach of all time," Brissett recalled. "You still feel that same feeling I felt when I was 23 walking into the building again."
Brissett has now come full circle with his return to the Patriots. As he enters his ninth NFL season, he will have a much different role than the third-string rookie quarterback he was in 2016.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
