The Tom Brady era in New England was one of the most dominant in sports history. Over 20 years, Brady and the Patriots won six Super Bowls, 17 AFC East titles and were constantly the NFL’s top team. But all good things must come to an end.
Even head coach Bill Belichick, who with Brady engineered the NFL’s “evil empire,” knew that Father Time was coming for the quarterback. Even as Brady continued to challenge the laws of aging, Belichick remained wary of the inevitable “cliff,” leading the franchise to spend years scouting for a worthy heir. That search reached a pivotal moment in the 2019 NFL Draft, when the Patriots used a fourth-round pick on Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham, officially drafting a developmental understudy intended to carry the torch whenever the greatest era in sports history finally reached its sunset.
Fast forward to 2026, and Stidham has spent the past few seasons with the Denver Broncos backing up Bo Nix. When Nix went down with a broken ankle in Denver’s win over the Bills in the NFL playoffs, it put Stidham in position to face his former team with a berth in Super Bowl LX on the line.
Let’s revisit Stidham’s time with the Patriots.
MORE: Bo Nix's family tree
Jarrett Stidham Patriots career
Stidham spent the 2019 to 2021 seasons with New England, serving as Brady's backup before having his chances to start derailed.
In 2019, Stidham beat out Brian Hoyer for the primary backup spot behind Brady. His NFL debut came in Week 3 against the Jets; he completed 2 of 3 passes but threw a pick-six to Jamal Adams, which led to Brady being re-inserted to finish the game.
Big day for @Patriots rookie QB @Jarrett_Stidham:
— NFL (@NFL) August 9, 2019
🔷 Took over in the 2Q vs. Lions
🔷 Went 14-of-24 for 179 yards
🔷 Threw his first #NFLPreseason TD
🔷 Turned 23 years old pic.twitter.com/2w1kzzP29K
After Brady’s departure to Tampa Bay, Stidham was the presumed starter throughout the spring. However, the late signing of Cam Newton pushed him back to third-string. He eventually worked his way back to the second spot, making five relief appearances for a struggling Newton, including a relief stint against the Chiefs where he threw his first career touchdown pass to N'Keal Harry.
A training camp back surgery landed Stidham on the PUP list for the first nine games of the season. By the time he returned, rookie Mac Jones had firmly taken the reins, and Stidham spent the remainder of the year as the third-string option without seeing the field.
In May of 2022, Stidham's time in New England ended. He was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in a late-round pick swap, reuniting him with Josh McDaniels, who had been his offensive coordinator in New England and had just taken the head coaching job in Las Vegas.
MORE: Ranking the NFL's dynasties, from the Chiefs to Patriots
Jarrett Stidham NFL Draft
Stidham was selected with the 133rd pick in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Patriots. Once considered a potential first-round talent after a stellar 2017 season at Auburn, a regression in his 2018 production saw him slide into the middle rounds of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Stidham was the seventh quarterback taken in a class that included Kyler Murray and Daniel Jones. New England viewed him as a high-upside developmental understudy for 41-year-old Tom Brady.
| Pick | Round | Player | Team | College |
| 1 | 1 | Kyler Murray | Arizona Cardinals | Oklahoma |
| 6 | 1 | Daniel Jones | New York Giants | Duke |
| 15 | 1 | Dwayne Haskins | Washington Redskins | Ohio State |
| 42 | 2 | Drew Lock | Denver Broncos | Missouri |
| 100 | 3 | Will Grier | Carolina Panthers | West Virginia |
| 104 | 4 | Ryan Finley | Cincinnati Bengals | NC State |
| 133 | 4 | Jarrett Stidham | New England Patriots | Auburn |
| 166 | 5 | Easton Stick | LA Chargers | North Dakota State |
| 167 | 5 | Clayton Thorson | Philadelphia Eagles | Northwestern |
| 178 | 6 | Gardner Minshew | Jacksonville Jaguars | Washington State |
| 197 | 6 | Trace McSorley | Baltimore Ravens | Penn State |
MORE: Bill Belichick's record without Tom Brady
Jarrett Stidham Patriots stats
Stidham’s tenure with the New England Patriots was defined by high-stakes expectations that never quite translated into a starting role.
| Season | GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | INT | Rating |
| 2019 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 18.8 |
| 2020 | 5 | 0 | 22 | 44 | 256 | 2 | 3 | 54.7 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Total | 8 | 0 | 24 | 48 | 270 | 2 | 4 | 46.4 |
MORE: NFL stars you didn't know were drafted by MLB teams, from Kyler Murray to Tom Brady
Why did Jarrett Stidham leave the Patriots?
Stidham left the Patriots primarily because he was the odd man out in a rapidly changing quarterback room. By the spring of 2022, the Patriots had shifted their focus to a new era, leaving Stidham without a clear path to playing time.
After the Patriots drafted Mac Jones in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, he immediately took over as the franchise starter. With veteran Brian Hoyer serving as the primary mentor and backup, Stidham was relegated to the third-string spot. The final writing on the wall came when New England used a 2022 fourth-round pick on Western Kentucky's Bailey Zappe. This effectively replaced Stidham with a younger, cheaper developmental prospect, making him expendable.
On May 12, 2022, the Patriots traded Stidham and a 2023 seventh-round pick to the Raiders for a 2023 sixth-round pick.
MORE: Revisiting the Broncos' 2016 Super Bowl and playoff drought after