The mid-level draft slot creates a dilemma.
If you roll the dice on being able to trade up/hope other teams pick for other positions and are wrong, then it is déjà vu and one more season of near .500 purgatory. At that point you may as well bottom out in 2021 (with Stidham throwing to Harry in a repeat of the Marc Wilson-Hugh Millen years) and get a top ten pick in 2022, rather than be in the same situation yet again. We can make wagers on whether or not he breaks Joe Kapp's TD-Int ratio.
In terms of a veteran free agent or trade, it seems to me the preferable way to go would be something along the lines of what the Cowboys (Andy Dalton) or Dolphins (Ryan Fitzpatrick) did last year, with the idea of entering the season with that veteran as an inexpensive backup in case of injury.
The downside to trading up is that the Patriots have a lot of other positions in need of an upgrade. If other teams see the Pats have nobody (ie, Cam v2.0) as the 2021 QB, then leverage is lost in draft trade negotiations. At least with a Dalton-type of QB on the roster the Pats could avoid a hard sell of giving up too much to move up.
If Prescott does not re-sign with Dallas that could have a domino effect on the rest of the veteran quarterbacks that are being discussed as potential trade bait. The other major factor is how the rest of the league reacts to a less-than-planned-on 2021 salary cap. It will be very interesting (at least to me) how this all pans out.
Build the roster with 2022 in mind, not just 2021. I'm leery of trading away too much to move up a few spots, despite the incredible significance of the quarterback position.
