Some news and notes on this Friday:<\/p>\n
1) While looking through some recent analysis, ESPN’s Field Yates went through all 32 teams on Thursday to project who he believes will be the starting quarterback for each Franchise.<\/p>\n
The piece on ESPN+, which requires a subscription, was also updated following the Eagles trade with Indianapolis on Thursday that sent Carson Wentz to the Colts<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 There were some notable names included, with only a handful of clubs who he believes will be starting someone new next season.<\/p>\n Obviously, the one everyone is wondering about is the Patriots, and Yates has a name that many of us believe is a possibility.\u00a0 He believes that Marcus Mariota will be lining up under center in 2021<\/strong><\/a>, which given how things are beginning to play out elsewhere makes sense.<\/p>\n Per Yates:<\/p>\n The Patriots are among a group of teams that are too far from the top of the draft order to be a likely landing spot for the top-draft-prospect quarterbacks, meaning we’re examining other veteran options who could be logical fits. While a\u00a0Cam Newton\u00a0return isn’t totally ruled out, it’s an unlikely option. The 27-year-old Mariota is under contract for one more year with the Raiders but carries a cap charge of $10.725M, an unlikely tab for them to pay for a backup in a cap-tightened year.<\/p>\n Be it via a trade or cut, Mariota could find a new home this offseason … and the Patriots are a logical fit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Out in San Francisco, barring a deal for someone like Deshaun Watson or something significant, they appear ready to stick with Jimmy Garoppolo<\/strong><\/a> since it makes sense to only make a change if it’s an upgrade to the position.\u00a0 Yates also projects Garoppolo to stay put.<\/p>\n However, he does predict some changes.\u00a0 He has Ryan Fitzpatrick landing in Washington, the Texans dealing Watson to Carolina, which has been a rumor gaining momentum recently.\u00a0 He also predicts the Jets will draft and start BYU QB Zach Wilson in 2021, while sending Sam Darnold to Chicago.<\/p>\n As for Mariota, he showed some flashes at the end of last season for the Raiders and it would be interesting to see what Josh McDaniels might be able to do with him.\u00a0 Given the resurgence Ryan Tannehill has seen down in Tennessee, the obvious hope would be that the Patriots could pull off the same with Mariota.\u00a0 Again, it’s early and we’ll have to see how it plays out, but after what we went through last season with Cam Newton, it would certainly be intriguing to see what the offense might look like with the former 27-year-old Titans QB in this offense.<\/p>\n 2) Meanwhile, when it came to Wentz, it doesn’t sound like the Patriots were ever in that sweepstakes.<\/p>\n According to the NFL Network’s Mike Giardi, he was told that the Patriots “had no real interest” in acquiring him.<\/p>\n Not that this comes as a surprise, but the #Patriots<\/a> had no real interest in acquiring Carson Wentz, per source.<\/p>\n — Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) February 18, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n