Going back in time: Where would Patriots be now if the they never traded Jacoby Brissett

Going back in time almost 4 years, the Patriots picked quarterback Jacoby Brissett in the 3rd round of the 2016 draft. On June 16th, 2016, the Patriots signed the 23-year-old quarterback to a 4-year contract worth $3.4 million. He was the 3rd string quarterback with Tom Brady and 2nd stringer Jimmy Garoppolo. With Tom Brady serving a four-game suspension to start the year, Jacoby started that season as the second string QB to Jimmy. Jimmy would end up getting hurt in week 2 against the Miami Dolphins. Jacoby came in and completed 6/9 for 92 yards. He would end up starting the following week against the Houston Texans, completing 11/19 for 103 yards, while also rushing 8 times for 48 yards and a TD, beating the Texans 27-0. Then went on to lose to the Buffalo Bills 16-0, completing 17/27 for 205 yards, rushing 4 times for 23 yards, while fumbling twice. Jacoby also played through a thumb injury in that game. On September 2, 2017, Jacoby Brissett was traded to the Indianapolis Colts for first-round pick wide receiver Phillip Dorsett.

Dorsett only caught 18 passes for 225 yards and 1 TD in his 2015 rookie season. His second season was arguably his best season statistically, catching 33 passes for 528 yards and 2 TDs. Once he arrived in New England, he was a depth guy in a receiving core that had Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan, and Danny Amendola. Julian Edelman and Malcolm Mitchell were both injured for the entire season. In 2017, Dorsett only caught 12 passes for 194 yards. In 2018, he was thrown in as a #2 guy with the departure of Amendola, Mitchell, and Cooks. In addition, Edelman was suspended for 4 games. Dorsett caught 32 passes for 290 yards and 3 TDs. It's also worth noting that the Patriots traded for Josh Gordon a couple of weeks into the season. That knocked Dorsett down the depth chart for part of the season until Gordon was suspended late in the year.

Dorsett started off the 2019 season strong with a 2 TD performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers and a TD against the New York Jets. But as the season went along, he disappeared, while missing a couple of games due to a concussion. He ended the season with 29 catches for 397 yards and 5 TDs. Phillip has been borderline mediocre over his entire career but has also shined in a few big spots. He feeds off of coverage busts and soft zone coverages, but when he's manned up, he tends to struggle to get separation and becomes invisible.

Jacoby Brissett, on the other hand, was a backup to Colts QB Andrew Luck. But due to injuries, Brissett got to start in 2017. He completed 58.8% of his passes for 3,098 yards, 13 TDs, 7 INTs, with a QBR of 81.7. Luck returned to action in 2018, making Brissett the backup once again. But, in 2019 Andrew Luck shockingly announced his retirement before the season, leaving the team's only option at QB, Jacoby Brissett. In 2019, Jacoby completed 60.9% of his passes for 2,942 yards, 18 TDs, 6 INTs, with a QBR of 88.0. The Colts ended up giving him a two-year extension worth $30 million, $20 million guaranteed before the 2019 season.

So, where are we now? The Patriots loss in the wild card round of the playoffs to the Titans, the receiving core was mediocre at best, Tom Brady's contract is set to expire at the start of the 2020 league year, and we're all waiting to see what he'll do and who will be the starting quarterback of the Patriots in 2020. There's a real change Brady leaves and he and the team have had minimum conversations about a new contract as of now. If Brady were to leave, the Patriots would have very minimum options at QB. They did have Jarrett Stidham , who the team is rumored to like behind the scenes. But it has also been reported that the team does not think he's ready to start. Stidham also threw a pick-six in his first game as a pro.

But what if, the Patriots never traded Jacoby Brissett? His rookie contract would also be expiring at the same time as Tom Brady's contract. But what's cheaper? Signing Brissett to an extension as soon as before the 2019 season, or resigning Tom Brady before the 2020 season? Obviously, Tom Brady is a better player, he's the greatest of all time. But, if you never traded Brissett, and continued to develop him throughout the years, giving him minimum playing time outside of preseason, you could get him to agree to a contract extension as soon as before the 2019 season for maybe even less than $30 million over two years.

Now, it's hard to argue Bill Belichick, he did win a super bowl with Dorsett on the roster, but he wasn't targeted in that game. So I think it's fair to question the decision to trade away the possible future at quarterback of the team, for a mediocre receiver that wasn't even targeted in super bowl 51 in return. I think we'd be looking at the possibility of Tom Brady leaving a lot differently if we held on to Brissett.