Jacoby Brissett may be the New England Patriots' Week 1 starting quarterback in 2024, but his most important role on the team will be mentoring the potential next face of the franchise.
The Patriots selected North Carolina QB Drake Maye with the third overall pick in the 2024 draft. Brissett, an eight-year NFL veteran, will be counted on to take the rookie under his wing. He'll have to do so while competing with Maye in training camp for the starting job.
Head coach Jerod Mayo has made it clear that the best of New England's four QBs will start in the season opener against Cincinnati. Asked on Thursday how he'll make the situation in the QB room "not awkward," Brissett shared a thoughtful response.
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“I’ll just be myself," he answered. "I have no ego in this to be like ‘I should do this.’ Whatever is for me is going to happen for me. Whatever is going to happen for the next person is going to happen for the next person. It’s about being ready whenever your time comes. ...
"I think the good thing about our room is honestly everybody wants to be the guy. Everybody's competing to be the guy. That's what you want," he added. "If none of us wanted to play, then our room would be messed up. Like we would be in bad hands in this organization."
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Brissett's response indicates that while he hopes to win the starting role, he's all-in on setting Maye up to succeed. To The MMQB's Albert Breer, that shows why Brissett was the "perfect" offseason signing for New England.
"Exactly why he was the perfect signing for them," Breer said on Thursday's Arbella Early Edition, as shown in the video above. "He knows how to handle these situations. He's been in much more awkward situations than this.
"He was the quarterback with the Colts when Andrew Luck suddenly retired in August of that year, and then he was in a much more awkward situation with Deshaun Watson. And I was in the locker room for his last start with the Browns in 2022 when Deshaun was coming back off the suspension, and you could not find a player, a coach, an executive in that organization that didn't have glowing things to say about him.
"Like, Josh McCown was the guy who made an extra $30 million over the course of his career just for being a good guy, just for being the type of guy that you wanted to have your young quarterbacks around. That's who Jacoby Brissett is. You see how he answered that question perfectly. It illustrated exactly why he was the right guy for them to sign."
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Brissett, 31, started his NFL career with the Patriots in 2016 as a third-stringer behind Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo. The third-round draft pick ended up starting two games as a rookie amid Brady's Deflategate suspension and a Garoppolo injury.
Before the 2017 season, the Patriots traded Brissett to the Indianapolis Colts for wide receiver Phillip Dorsett. Brissett spent four seasons in Indy before spending time with the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, and most recently the Washington Commanders.
New England bringing Brissett back in the mix serves two purposes. For one, he's an ideal resource for Maye, who has already started texting Brissett for help with the Pats offense. Secondly, if Maye isn't ready, Brissett is a more-than-capable bridge QB who can prevent the team from rushing their young signal-caller into action.
The post-Bill Belichick regime is doing all it can to set up its young QB for success. Coming off two consecutive dysfunctional seasons, that should bring a sigh of relief to Pats fans.