Patriots OL makes risky social media move regarding QB situation

ESPN's Bill Barnwell wrote a piece this week suggesting that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick could seek to replace the former Alabama signal-caller in the offseason with former New England quarterbacks Tom Brady or Jimmy Garoppolo. A link to Barnwell's article was posted on the NFL on ESPN's Instagram page on Monday, and among the thousands of "likes" on the post was one from Brown.

The 29-year-old former Florida Gator was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft and spent the first three seasons of his career in the Bay Area. Brown and "Jimmy G." were teammates with the Niners during the 2017 campaign — Garoppolo's first with San Francisco — before the former was traded to the Patriots in April 2018.

Brown played with Brady for just one season as well in 2018 — covering "TB12's" blindside after switching to left tackle. Brown and Brady helped New England win Super Bowl LIII over the Los Angeles Rams before the lineman signed a four-year, $66 million contract with the Oakland Raiders in March 2019.

He played with the Raiders for two seasons — earning his lone Pro Bowl honor in 2019 — and was traded back to the Patriots in March 2021. Brown was limited to nine games last season but has stayed healthy this year and played in all 14 games.