A new era for the New England Patriots: Can Joe Flacco lead the transition?
By Chris Lowe
For a while, when many thought of the New England Patriots dynasty, they thought of quarterbacks. That was thanks to the illustrious career of Tom Brady, who many have considered to be the greatest quarterback of all time. Brady managed to bring six Super Bowl titles to the Patriots and garnered four Super Bowl MVP awards while on that historic tear. Now, the times in Foxborough aren’t as happy as they once were. The once promising talent who came to replace Brady, Mac Jones, lost his starting job in the latter half of the season.
The Patriots put together a measly 4-13 record last year, which led Bill Belichick, who many consider to be the greatest coach of all time, to part ways with the franchise. New England is searching and yearning for the quarterback of the future, someone to team up with newfound head coach Jerod Mayo and return winning ways back to Foxborough. The one silver lining amongst this whole mess is that the franchise snagged the 3rd overall draft spot in the 2024 NFL draft, and many have said the team is setting their sights on a quarterback.
So a new, fresh arm is going to be at the helm of the team, but many times, fresh talent needs old talent to help guide that process into the national football league. We’ve seen it play out somewhat successfully in many scenarios, most notably in the patriot organization with the transition from Drew Bledsoe to the legendary Tom Brady. With past success of this in the league, many patriots fans and front office workers have wondered: “Could it work again?” And perhaps it might.
As many have suspected the signing of former Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Joe Flacco to the Patriots not only supplied the future quarterback with mentorship but also enough talent to help win New England some games in the early parts of the 2024 season. Many have called Flacco a potential “bridge starter” to mentor a quarterback throughout the 2024 season. Flacco is coming off a historically good comeback-style season with the Browns in which he helped develop a playoff birth and earned himself the 2024 Comeback Player of the Year. He stepped in after the injury of Deshaun Watson and never looked back as he finished the season with a 4-1 record with the boys in orange, completed over 60% of his passes, and tossed 13 touchdowns.
The Patriots could draft a quarterback like Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels with the No. 3 pick and have them sit and learn under Flacco for a season. Not to mention the veteran quarterback also has ties to Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt who worked alongside him in Cleveland last year. It’s not set in stone, but it sure could make sense for the Patriots who need a solid leader under center this year as they are going through a process of change. Flacco proved once again that he belonged in the league last year through not only tremendous leadership but gameplay as well. There may be a lot of what-ifs heading into this newfound season of leadership for the Patriots as the fanbase is hoping a dynasty can return once again to Foxborough. Until then the New England Patriots are on the clock.