Veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer is visiting the New York Jets after spending last season in New England with the Patriots.
The New York Jets are set to welcome in veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer for a visit with the likely intent of making him the backup thrower and mentor to an incoming rookie, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Interesting free agent visit on tap today: #Patriots QB Brian Hoyer is set to visit the #Jets, source said. A long-time backup in New England emerges as a potential backup and mentor to the new rookie QB at NYJ.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 8, 2021
Hoyer, 35, spent last season with the New England Patriots, his third tenure with the Jets’ AFC East rivals since entering the league as an undrafted free agent with the team in 2009.
He has started 39 in that span, amassing a 16-23 record. That includes one last season in relief of the injured Cam Newton, throwing for 130 yards in the Patriots’ October loss to Kansas City.
Over the course of his NFL career, Hoyer has often been used as a reliable backup capable of keeping teams afloat when an injured starter goes down. Between the 2013 and 2015 seasons, spent between Cleveland and Houston, Hoyer tallied a 15-10 record as a starter.
He has also spent time with Robert Saleh and Mike LaFleur through a shared experience in San Francisco. Hoyer began the 2017 season as the 49ers’ primary passer, starting the first six games of a doomed season before young throwers C.J. Beathard and Jimmy Garoppolo took over.
He’d later earn a championship ring by returning to the role of Tom Brady’s backup in 2018.
With the trade of Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers, the Jets quarterback room is bare in regular-season experience, as it’s more or less a foregone conclusion that they’ll use the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft on a rookie passer.
The current options are Mike White, a former fifth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, and James Morgan. New York chose Morgan in the fourth round of last year’s selections, but he did not dress for a single game last season.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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