Albert Breer: Some within Patriots organization are onto 2024

Albert Breer of The MMQB tells Zolak & Bertrand why Patriots personnel in some corners of Gillette Stadium are already looking ahead to 2024 despite the team having 11 games left in the season:

"I think the conversations already in some corners of that building have gone to 2024, I think to be more more widespread in a couple of weeks unless something pretty crazy happens. In every one of these organizations, your scouting department is already working on the next year because they're talking about college players. Well, during the college season, you have to allocate resources to certain areas. Over the next six weeks, do you start to go send your scouts to look at the quarterbacks live? Because there's only so many scouts you have and there are only so many games that you can get live exposure to. So do we start seeing Matt Groh pop up at a USC game or a North Carolina game or a Michigan game or a Texas game. You start to see those things because teams that are looking at quarterbacks in the draft, what do they do? You get to April and somebody does the back story of how the quarterback got there. And the guy will be like, 'oh yeah, I was at the Texas-Oklahoma game in November and I saw this and this quarterback and that's why I liked him' you know?

"So in some corners that the building, you can't wait until 2024. So that's what I mean. I think there's a lot of conversation and then the trade deadline is the other part of it. How do you approach that? Where are contract negotiations with Kyle Dugger with Josh Uche, with Mike Onwenu? Because those guys are if you're one of those guys now, you are 11 games from free agency. So at this point, if you're one of those players and you have like, 'I think I'm worth this on the open market', why would you take less than that when you've already taken on the amount of injury risk it takes to get to this point? Why wouldn't you just play it out and get to free agency? So they have to factor that into what happens if somebody calls on. Uche? What happens if somebody calls on Onwenu? What happens if somebody calls on Duggar? These are real things that they've got to sort through over the next few weeks. And again, do you start to look at the college quarterbacks? Do you start to do you start to consider offers? Because I think it's really paramount now that you start building up draft capital."

Welcome into the Week 7 edition of the 98.5 The Sports Hub New England Patriots Mailbag! This week's questions mainly covered two topics - the state of the Patriots' quarterback room, and the upcoming NFL trade deadline.

Last week saw significant change to the Patriots' quarterback situation. Bailey Zappe was scratched for the first time this year, leaving Malik Cunningham as the backup quarterback. How does that change the future outlook at the position?

READ MORE:

--Ups & Downs from Sunday's loss to the Raiders
--The latest on the Patriots' quarterback carousel
--Full Patriots coverage

As for the trade deadline, it's quicky approaching. Teams have less than two weeks left to make deals, with the clock running out at 4 p.m. on Halloween.

Where do fans stand on both? Let's get to this week's questions...

Going off what the coaching staff has said, they seemed impressed with the work Will Grier has put in since joining the team in late September. However, they have also stressed how difficult it is to prepare a backup quarterback for game action in-season. That reality seemed to be reflected in the way the roster was constructed for last week's game with Grier one of two inactive quarterbacks, and not labeled as the emergency QB option.

It's not unrealistic to think Grier could end up playing for the Patriots at some point this season. But right now him seeing any significant snaps seems like a future proposition, not an immediate one.

As mentioned above, the team has stressed how difficult it has been to get backup quarterbacks prepared. Given that Malik Cunningham has been practicing mainly as a wide receiver, it'd be tough to expect him to play quarterback for a full game in the near future. His usage in package plays will likely continue, but a full-time QB change doesn't seem imminent.

I'm not really sure what the question is here, but yes the clock has just about run out on the flexibility provided by Mac Jones' rookie contract. That reality should be a factor in the Patriots' future quarterback plans, especially considering if and when to take a quarterback in this year's NFL Draft.

The Patriots offense has been missing that third-down back role for almost three years now - basically since James White got hurt early in the 2021 season. Since then, the team hasn't really added players with the primary skillset needed for that role.

In fact, the closest they've come is the addition of Ty Montgomery. If the Patriots want more production in the passing game from the running backs this year, Montgomery is the best answer at this point. However, he's been limited to begin with playing just 29 offensive snaps - and only four of those have come at wide receiver.

This offseason, adding a true passing-down pack should be on the Patriots' to-do list, whether it be in the draft or via free agency. But given how complex that role is in their offense, it makes more sense in the context of this season to use a player already familiar with the playbook, rather than looking elsewhere.

It's hard to see a scenario where the Patriots could trade away DeVante Parker right now without giving up something additional in return. At 31 years old with most of his contract guaranteed for the 2024 season, the Patriots would likely need to either eat most of his contract or overpay for another team to take it on.

In the scenario described above, there's really no incentive for the Bengals to take on Parker between his contract and recent lack of production. He's not a replacement for Higgins at this point, and the trade would be a significant blow to Cincinnati's offense. If the Patriots were going to include him in a trade for Tee Higgins they'd need to attach serious draft capital. The asking price for Higgins probably wouldn't change whether or not Parker is involved in the deal.

I appreciate the question Bret, but this is a full offseason plan. That will require more than just a mailbag. Don't worry though, we'll have that as it's own feature once the season is over.

In terms of live games? We're currently in the middle of a stretch where there is at least one Division-I college or NFL game on every day for 50 days in a row, with the next day without a game being Thanksgiving Eve. For that window, here's what a week in my life looks like...

Monday night I'll watch Monday Night Football in full. Tuesday and Wednesday night I'll causally follow the college football games in action, usually having them on in the background while working, making dinner, or watching the Bruins or Celtics. Thursday night I'll lock in on Thursday Night Football, and might pull up a college game on a second screen if there's a good game or good matchup going on. Friday night is similar to Tuesday and Wednesday, although again I'll make a point of watching a certain matchup if it's one that really sticks out to me (like Stanford-Colorado last week).

Saturday starts with College Gameday in the morning, followed by the full slate of college football. As for Sunday, the Patriots are my main focus, so I may miss out on a window while working. For instance if the Patriots play at 1:00, I'm usually working through the end of the 4:00 window but will catch Sunday Night Football. For Sunday night games I'll catch the 1:00, but miss most of the 4:00 getting to the game and taking care of pregame coverage. 4:00 games home games I miss both other windows, but for 4:00 home games I usually watch most of the 1:00 Red Zone window.

So yeah, that's the schedule (which doesn't factor in re-watching games for a various number of reasons). Can't complain. How do I manage? I'll leave you with these wise words...

Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at abarth@985TheSportsHub.com.