Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald writes that the New England Patriots will have a “pretty important decision” to make regarding the backup quarterback position.
As of now, the Patriots currently have Ryan Mallett in place as Tom Brady‘s understudy. However, he’s entering the final year of his contract and he is largely unproven up to this point.
According to Guregian, New England can either field trade offers for him in the coming months, try to re-sign him to an extension or allow him to play out the final year of his contract.
Mallett has been a popular name in trade rumors for a few years now, having been linked to the Texans and Vikings. The fact that Bill O’Brien is now the new head coach of Houston makes them seem like a possibly landing spot, depending on what their plan is for the draft and free agency.
Guregian believes the Patriots need to stay ahead of the curve and possibly consider drafting a replacement for Mallett if they aren’t willing to commit to him being the heir apparent to Brady.
Paying Mallett a market value contract to backup Brady would cost them a lot more than taking a quarterback prospect to develop in the middle rounds of the draft while Brady plays out the remainder of his current contract.
Brady, 36, has four remains remaining on his $60 million contract. He has an average base salary of $14.12 million over this span to go along with similar cap figures.
I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about Mallett and a possible trade in the coming months.
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