Beat writer expands on Patriots, Russell Wilson links

While some in the NFL community have mentioned the New England Patriots as a potential landing spot for Denver Broncos quarterback and soon-to-be free agent Russell Wilson, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN explained earlier this week why such a marriage is unlikely.

Patriots beat reporter Chris Mason of MassLive expanded on Fowler's take for a mailbag published on Friday. 

"Wilson isn’t even an average quarterback at this point," Mason said. "Stats never tell the whole story, but Wilson finished 21st and 27th in QBR during his two seasons in Denver, and diving into the film has been even uglier."

In fairness to "stats never tell the whole story," ESPN shows that Wilson finished this past regular season ranked eighth among qualified players with a 98.0 passer rating. He tossed 26 touchdown passes and eight interceptions over 15 games. 

"Wilson’s ability to extend the play was huge (with the Seattle Seahawks from 2012-2021), and at 35, he’s lost some of that escapability as his legs have started to go," Mason continued. "As such, he took 100 sacks in his 30 starts with the Broncos, and there was very little payoff in the running game; this wasn’t 2014 Wilson who took 42 sacks but ran for 849 yards. Now he’s just holding the ball and getting crunched."

Wilson finished the 2023 campaign with 341 rushing yards. 

The Patriots have been linked in rumors with quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett of the Washington Commanders and Joe Flacco of the Cleveland Browns. 

It's thought such a veteran could serve as a bridge option who would start over a rookie signal-caller taken by New England with the third overall pick of this year's draft. 

The Patriots theoretically could sign Wilson, move down in the draft order and still grab a quarterback during the player-selection process. 

However, Mason wrote that "Wilson doesn’t fit into the current plan of drafting a rookie quarterback and letting him season behind a veteran mentor." 

Cecil Lammey of the Denver Sports website reported early Friday morning that Wilson "does not consider himself a 'bridge' quarterback" and "wants his next team to commit to him." 

Meanwhile, the Patriots finished this past season at 4-13 and hit a figurative reset button by replacing legendary head coach Bill Belichick with Jerod Mayo. 

"New England isn’t terribly enticing given a potential placeholder quarterback role and their lack of weapons to boot," Mason concluded. "So no, although those 'Legion of Boom' teams were fun to watch in Seattle, Wilson doesn’t check any boxes for the 2024 season in New England." 

The New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers are among the clubs that have shown some interest in Wilson this week. 

De facto Patriots general manager Eliot Wolf could change his mind about the subject, but it seems people in the know believe Wolf won't be calling Wilson anytime soon.