A veteran NFL quarterback is on the move. According to multiple reports, the New England Patriots are trading quarterback Jarrett Stidham to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Patriots will receive a 2023 sixth-round pick from the Raiders, who will also receive a 2023 seventh-round pick in the deal.
The trade makes sense with former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels now the head coach of the Raiders. Stidham knows the system McDaniels runs and adds depth to a quarterback room that features starter Derek Carr, Nick Mullens and Garrett Gilbert. For the Patriots, their starting QB is Mac Jones and they have Brian Hoyer as the backup. The team also drafted Bailey Zappe in the fourth round this year and signed D’Eriq King as an undrafted free agent.
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Stidham, 25, was selected in the fourth round by the Patriots in the 2019 NFL Draft. He has played in a total of eight games in three seasons and has thrown for 270 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. Before the start of the 2021 season, Stidham talked about how he was looking to be the starting QB despite the team drafting Jones in the first round.
“My approach hasn’t changed at all,” Stidham said, per Pats Pulpit. “Every day when I come into the building my approach is to learn from the people around me — obviously the coaches, the players that have been playing a long time in this league — and learn as much as possible and continue to grow. Drafting Mac, that hasn’t really changed my approach. I can control what I can control, and that’s how hard I work, how prepared I am.
“Those things haven’t changed. My mindset has really been the same. … My goal is to be the quarterback here and to start football games for a really long time in this league. The mindset of that has never changed and never will change. But, like I said, I’m going to continue to work as hard as I possibly can to really improve and continue to do what I need to do in order to get better and to help this team.” Stidham played college football for the Auburn Tigers. In 2017, Stidham was named to the All-SEC First Team and SEC Newcomer of the Year.
