Next Patriots quarterback NFL odds: Could New England trade for Jacoby Brissett?

Bill Belichick is infamous for his secrecy during the NFL season in terms of hiding injuries from opposing teams or keeping any shred of potentially relevant information from the media. Thus, perhaps not a huge surprise that the Patriots have been very quiet thus far on their plans to replace Tom Brady at quarterback.

Brady's backup last year was rookie Jarrett Stidham, and Stidham remains the +175 betting favorite to take the first snap of 2020, but that's simply because he is in-house and knows the offense. Brady's third-stringer last season, Cody Kessler, is a longer-shot option at +2000 and has a lot more NFL experience than Stidham does with 12 starts … but an ugly 2-10 record with the Browns and Jaguars.

The Patriots rarely "lose" a trade, but they clearly lost the deal on the eve of the 2017 season when they sent then-third string quarterback Jacoby Brissett to the Indianapolis Colts for receiver Phillip Dorsett. Brissett has become a very competent NFL quarterback, although he won't be starting this year with the Colts signing Philip Rivers. Dorsett has been mostly a bust.

The vast majority of teams around the NFL would love to have Brissett as their No. 2 or a bridge starting quarterback for a season while a rookie or someone like the second-year Stidham sits and learns.

Indianapolis reportedly does not want to trade Brissett as the Colts are in win-now mode and would like insurance for Rivers in case of injury. Plus, Brissett is just 27. Then again, the Colts do have veteran Brian Hoyer, a former Brady backup, as the current third string. Brissett is also an unrestricted free agent after the 2020 season.

Indy could in theory trade Brissett to New England for a draft pick(s) and select a quarterback in next month's draft; the Colts traded their first-round pick (No. 13 overall) to San Francisco this week for defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.

On the William Hill NFL futures odds, the Patriots are +1000 to win the AFC title and the Colts +1200.

Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Who will be the Patriots' starting quarterback Week 1 of the 2020 season?

• Jarrett Stidham +175
• Cam Newton +250
• Field (any QB not listed) +300
• Andy Dalton +500
• Jameis Winston +600
• Jacoby Brissett +1000
• Cody Kessler +2000
• Derek Carr +2500
• 2020 draft pick +3000
• Joe Flacco +4000