The Facts: Dalton is available. Few starting jobs are. For one team, however, questions have lingered regarding the guy at the top of the depth chart. In New England, Jarrett Stidham is the guy. And reports from March indicated that the Patriots weren’t interested in Dalton. But the Bengals hoped at the time to trade Dalton and his $17.5 million salary. Now that Dalton is a free agent, things could change. Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported on Thursday that the Patriots and Jaguars are interested in Dalton. Other reporters who cover the Patriots continue to say that the Patriots aren’t.
Diehards Line:As PFT's Mike Florio notes, with Bill Belichick, no one ever knows what he’s going to do until he does it. Given the praise heaped on Stidham by the likes of Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, and Matthew Slater, it’s hard not to believe that Belichick believes in Stidham. The fact that Belichick didn’t draft a quarterback last weekend reinforces the idea that Stidham will get the first crack at replacing Tom Brady. Which means that the Patriots won’t be making a play for Dalton. If, Florio went on to explain, Belichick has interest in Dalton, it makes sense for Belichick to cultivate a belief that Stidham is the guy, in order to keep Dalton’s demands lower than they’d be if he regarded New England as desperate. So, like anything and everything else with the Patriots, the only thing to do is wait and see.