The New England Patriots didn’t draft a single quarterback in the just-completed NFL Draft and one national sports analyst believes he knows why. Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports posted his theory on Twitter over the weekend, tweeting a picture of Trevor Lawrence in a Patriots jersey. Accompanying the photo, he pointed out the Pats had quite a few picks in this year’s draft and insinuated the team had a plan “or something,” which was why they didn’t draft a player to replace Tom Brady this year.
Joseph Zucker of Bleacher Report pointed out that — in order for the Patriots to be planning to take Lawrence — he would have to forego his senior season at Clemson University. The talented passer — who also has a good bit of mobility — has long been rumored to only want to play three years of college ball before declaring for the NFL draft.
Lawrence already led his school to a national championship his freshman season. He took them to the playoffs in his sophomore year, though the Tigers were eventually upended by Joe Burrow and LSU.
Found it interesting the Patriots didn’t draft a QB w their 136 draft picks this year. Like they have another plan or something. pic.twitter.com/1n2Y0Ag2Au
— Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) April 26, 2020
Zucker also mentioned that Lawrence is expected to be near the top — if not at the top — of the 2021 draft class. That means the Patriots would need to “tank” in order to take the Clemson quarterback.
Cowherd’s theory that the Patriots entered this year’s draft with the intention of waiting it out and taking Lawrence next year was refuted by head coach Bill Belichick earlier this week. The coach said they didn’t come to the three-day event with the intention of skipping any chance at a quarterback — that’s just how it worked out.
“If we feel like we find the right situation, we’ll certainly draft them. We’ve drafted them in multiple years, multiple points in the draft. It didn’t work out last three days. That wasn’t by design. It could have, but it didn’t. Again, there are multiple ways to build your team. We’ll see whether or not we get word of another that comes up at a different point in time. I don’t know.”
Not long after the draft ended, the Patriots did sign former Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke and former Louisiana Tech signal-caller J’Mar Smith as undrafted free agents. They’ll join Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer on the active roster as potential candidates to replace Brady. It’s not clear if the team might attempt to acquire another veteran quarterback to join the fray, or if the quartet will be the Patriots choices for QB entering the regular season.
