Tuesday Patriots Notebook 4/16: News and Notes
Are the New England Patriots putting together a contingency plan at quarterback?
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Some Patriots news and notes for this morning:
The New England Patriots made an interesting move on Monday, with the club following up J.J. McCarthy’s visit with the team by bringing in Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
According to Bleacher Report reporter Jordan Schultz, Penix Jr. had dinner with the team Monday night and will spend Tuesday meeting with the club at Gillette Stadium.
He’s a name that up until now the Patriots didn’t seem to have much interest in. New England didn’t meet with him at all at the Scouting Combine, which at the time raised some eyebrows given that the team had seemingly been doing its due diligence on most of the quarterback prospects.
However, they didn’t exactly completely ignore him. College Scouting Director Cam Williams brought four scouts to his pro day last month, and now Penix Jr. was obviously brought in for another meeting ahead of next week’s draft.
The fact the club brought him in is certainly interesting. Given their current position, the expectation to this point is that they’ll target someone at #3 overall, which would seemingly include Drake Maye or J.J. McCarthy, as both are expected to be the two players available after both Chicago and Washington make their selections.
Caleb Williams is the overwhelming favorite to go #1 overall, and that seems like a foregone conclusion to this point. The chatter that continues to come out of Washington is that they’ll take Jayden Daniels, although they also pivoted and are reportedly planning on meeting with Penix Jr. after he leaves Foxborough.
Meanwhile, Maye reportedly met with the Patriots last week, while McCarthy had dinner with the team Sunday night, and the Michigan quarterback spent yesterday meeting with the team.
As for why the Patriots are using valuable time on Penix Jr., it’s entirely possible that he might be their backup plan should another team come to them with an unbelievable offer to move them off that #3 overall spot. The same might be said for Washington, given that Penix Jr. will be headed there after leaving New England, with a visit with the Commanders reportedly scheduled for Tuesday night and into Wednesday.
Both Denver and Minnesota are expected to be teams who are looking to rocket up the board, as is Las Vegas. Whether or not they would offer enough to get the Patriots to move down is another story, but it appears Eliot Wolf may be looking for a contingency plan, and Penix Jr. may possibly be that player.
One other possibility could also be after bringing in the other prospects, the Patriots may indeed have a particular player they’ve collectively settled on. However, should that player be gone when it’s time to pick, that could be another reason why they would move down and potentially have Penix on their radar.
For now, it’s just the team continuing to make sure they’ve covered everything ahead of next week when they’re finally on the clock making their selection.
While Adam Schefter essentially told Commanders fans that Daniels is likely going to be their next quarterback, McCarthy’s meeting in Washington is apparently creating some buzz, and it could also be another reason why the Patriots are exploring their options.
According to Vikings Wire, the thought process there would see Williams gone at #1, with McCarthy potentially going to Washington at #2. They then feel the Patriots would take Daniels, which would make Maye available at #4, where Minnesota would execute a trade with Arizona.
That move would make him a Viking, where head coach Kevin O’Connell is apparently a big fan, as is quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, who coached Maye in high school.
Adam Schefter believes that if the Vikings can figure it out, he also believes he’s their guy.
“I think Drake Maye is the leader in the clubhouse, but it all depends on the team,” said Schefter on Tuesday. “If Minnesota were to find a way to go up to 3, my sense is Drake Maye is the preference.”
For the Vikings, that would require an interesting turn of events. It’s also possible that should Washington alter their plans, the Patriots may also make a move down the board, which could explain their decision to host Penix Jr. ahead of next week.
However, for a team that is currently heading into 2024 with Sam Darnold as its quarterback, it’s obvious that Minnesota may prefer another option. Denver is another team that could surprise people, given that Sean Payton is now under some pressure after moving on from Russell Wilson.
Meanwhile, Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston finds the visit interesting and said during Monday’s Early Edition on NBC Sports Boston that he wonders if there’s also a full lack of a consensus at quarterback heading into next week, which might also be the reason the Patriots chose to bring in Penix Jr.
“Really interesting, because he’s not in that class in terms of being a high-end first-round pick. That’s not how he’s considered by the league,” said Perry via NBC Sports Boston. “And so, now they’re broadening their search, and I wonder if they’re broadening it because there might be some of that same disagreement, lack of consensus, that Tom [Curran] and I had off the very top of the show on J.J. McCarthy.”
“If they think, ‘The best thing for us if we can’t get settled on one guy at three overall, if we do end up trading back, now we’re open to the second tier of quarterbacks whether it’s Michael Penix or Bo Nix, or maybe even further down the line Spencer Rattler, people like that.'”
For a team that already had a tough gauntlet of opponents in 2023, it appears the schedule in 2024 won’t be much easier.
According to Sharp Football Analysis, New England heads into next season with the second-hardest schedule in the NFL behind only Pittsburgh, which could set them up for a long road coming off of last year’s 4-13 finish.
In addition to their AFC East opponents, the Patriots have Houston, Indianapolis, the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle, and the Los Angeles Chargers set to visit them at home, with their road games seeing them battle Arizona, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Tennessee, Cincinnati, and Chicago next season.
The Chargers may be a tougher out with Jim Harbaugh at the helm, as will the Bengals with Joe Burrow back healthy. Depending on when they face Chicago, Caleb Williams may make the Bears a little tougher.
Needless to say, depending on how things ultimately play out, it may be a challenging first year for new head coach, Jerod Mayo.
Adam Schefter noted on Tuesday that this year’s top heavy draft of offensive players, whether it be quarterback, receiver, or tackle, could see a historic run on offense. “There never has been an NFL draft with more than 19 offensive players picked in the first round; that happened three times, most recently in 2009. But this draft is likely to set the record for most offensive players ever picked in round one.” … On this day on April 16, 2000, Bill Belichick’s 48th birthday, the club selected Tom Brady with the 199th overall pick. That pick clearly started the beginning of a historic run, and despite the fact his tenure here ended this offseason, Belichick has since been busy visiting teams his children are now a part of. Happy Birthday to Belichick, who now turns 72 today. … You would have to think JuJu Smith-Schuster’s decision to post an explicit photo on Snapchat should now potentially set him up for a departure this offseason. The Patriots have the luxury of having the cap room to dump his salary, and one would have to believe this news didn’t sit well with a team that’s trying to improve its image and win back the fans. Smith-Schuster is another disappointing receiver addition who needs to go, especially after finishing with just 29 receptions last season, with both he and Mike Gesicki finishing tied for 7th on the team as one of the lowest on offense, with Smith-Schuster also having just a 50% reception rate on third down. … According to Aaron Wilson, the Patriots held a Zoom meeting with TCU running back, Emani Bailey. Bailey totaled 1,209 yards in 2023 and is expected to potentially be an undrafted free agent. … Finally, happy birthday to my son, Alex, who turns 25 today. Got extremely lucky, and I’m definitely proud of him. He’s far cooler than I am and hopefully headed toward much bigger and better things than his Dad, and the fact he shares a birthday with Belichick remains an ironic aspect given this crazy corner of the internet I put together more than two decades ago. Good times.
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