FOXBORO — Head coach Mike Vrabel revealed Monday morning on WEEI that the Patriots considered re-signing Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham this offseason.
Stidham, who entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick with the Patriots in 2019, is set to start Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against his former team after Broncos starter Bo Nix suffered a broken ankle late in their divisional-round win over the Broncos.
“I like Jarrett,” Vrabel said on “The Greg Hill Show.” “I know that we did a lot of work on him in the offseason here of free agency.”
Stidham re-signed a two-year, $12 million contract with the Broncos instead.
Vrabel expounded on what they liked about Stidham, who has started just four games during his NFL career and hasn’t made a passing attempt since 2023, on Monday morning during his press conference.
“I guess it was kind of ironic, just speaking with his agent, they’re like, ‘Well, if you don’t want your starter to get hurt, sign Jarrett,’ because that was before yesterday or two days ago,” Vrabel said. “Just going back to when Josh had him and playing against that. Just think he sees things really well. I think he’s athletic enough to extend, like we talk about a lot of quarterbacks, accuracy. I think the decision-making, he’s really decisive in the games that we went back and watched. And this is even going back to when I was in Tennessee, as well.”
Stidham didn’t start any games during his three seasons with the Patriots before being traded, along with a seventh-round pick, to the Broncos for a sixth-round pick before the 2023 season.
He did play in five games with the Patriots, completing 24-of-48 passes for 270 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. There was a period of time, between Tom Brady leaving for the Buccaneers in March 2020 and Cam Newton signing in July 2020, that it appeared that Stidham would be the successor to Brady.
Stidham has gone on to play for the Raiders and Broncos. In his career, he’s completed 59.4% of his passes for 1,422 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions while rushing for 101 yards on 37 attempts.
The Patriots elected to sign Joshua Dobbs as Drake Maye’s backup to a two-year, $8 million contract. The team also added Tommy DeVito after training camp off waivers.
Dobbs played in four games, completing 70% of his passes for 65 yards this season.
Who knows who would be starting for the Broncos right now if the Patriots had signed Stidham instead. Sam Ehlinger is currently Stidham’s backup.
Boutte didn’t know extent of his great catch
Wide receiver Kayshon Boutte made one of the great postseason touchdown catches in Patriots history Sunday, hauling in an over-the-shoulder throw from Drake Maye one-handed over Texans All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.
Boutte was asked Monday morning where that catch ranks in his own personal highlights.
“I never thought about that one yet,” Boutte said. “I think I’m still enjoying the moment, though. I still kind of look back and I was wondering, like, ‘how did I catch that?’
“I never realized that it was one hand until I got to the sideline and was watching it on the screen.”
Stingley was Boutte’s college teammate at LSU. The Patriots’ wide receiver credited Stingley with helping make him better through practice reps.
Boutte did acknowledge that Stingley’s coverage likely forced him to make the catch one-handed.
“I would just say on deep balls, corners kind of get away with holding your left arm and the wrist and stuff like that,” Boutte said. “So, I mean, obviously, if I was able to catch it with two, it would have been over the shoulder, but I think maybe I was held a little bit. Just one hand, made a play.”
The play was eerily similar to the first touchdown throw of Maye’s career, which was also the first touchdown catch of Boutte’s career. That play, in Week 6 of the 2024 season, also came with Stingley in coverage.
“It was the exact same route, same end zone, same corner, on the same person,” Boutte said.
Boutte remembered that Maye allowed him to keep that ball.
The Patriots face another top-tier defense in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game when they travel to play the Broncos. Boutte has a history against Broncos All-Pro cornerback Patrick Surtain II, having played him in LSU-Alabama games.