Patriots Rumors: Tua Tagovailoa 2020 NFL Draft Play by NE 'Definitely Possible'

The New England Patriots have been quiet on the quarterback market since losing Tom Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In fact, their most recent move on the quarterback depth chart was releasing Cody Kessler.

There may be good reason for that. 

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe wrote it's "definitely possible" that the Patriots trade up in this month's draft to select Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Volin made the connection between the Patriots and Lions at No. 3, given the many former New England staffers who are currently in Detroit, including general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia.

From a logical standpoint, though, it's hard to see any workable trade that both sides would agree upon. The Patriots are without their second-round pick after trading it to the Atlanta Falcons for Mohamed Sanu, so they're already short on assets. Bill Belichick's modus operandi in the draft has been to trade back to acquire more draft picks, though he has moved up on occasion.

Even if Belichick thinks Tagovailoa is his quarterback of the future, he'd probably have to relinquish first-round picks this and next year, the Patriots' third-rounder in 2020 and a veteran player of the Lions' choosing to get them to even consider an offer.

Quarterback-needy teams already in the top 10 may want to move ahead of one another, setting up Detroit to reap the rewards of a bidding war. The Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins both already have top-10 picks and an obvious need at quarterback. The Dolphins would likely do anything in their power to prevent Tagovailoa from landing in New England, given their consistent links to the Alabama product dating back to the beginning of the 2019 regular season.

The Patriots may wind up taking a quarterback in Round 1, but a name like Utah State's Jordan Love makes a lot more sense.