The New England Patriots hole at back-up quarterback should be filled any minute now as Brian Hoyer is visiting with the team this morning ans “the expectation is that he will be signing with the team,” according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
Source: free agent QB Brian Hoyer is visiting the Patriots this morning. The expectation is that he will be signing with the team.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 1, 2017
This signing was telegraphed from the moment the Patriots sent back-up quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers, even if ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted that two other teams reached out to Hoyer for his services.
The Patriots depth quarterback chart will be Tom Brady and Brian Hoyer for the rest of 2017. Hoyer is also expected to stick around for at least the summer of 2018 as the Patriots draft and groom another young quarterback; if that rookie is not ready by the end of the preseason, then Hoyer will likely be the back-up for 2018 as well, with the rookie getting a red shirt year.
Update: Patriots head coach Bill Belichick tells Scott Zolak that the Patriots are “definitely working toward” a deal with Hoyer. Belichick wouldn’t say that unless the deal was already 100% determined.