Brian Hoyer's NFL career has come full circle. The nine-year veteran quarterback is returning to the New England Patriots, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2009. Tom Brady, who isn't showing any signs of slowing down, was the Patriots' starting quarterback then and he still is.

The Patriots have reached a three-year agreement with Hoyer, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.


The trade of Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers left New England with Brady as the only signal caller on the roster. Hoyer will take the place of Garoppolo as the backup to the future Hall of Fame quarterback.

Hoyer was initially part of the trade that sent Garoppolo from New England to San Francisco and a 2018 second-round pick to the Patriots. San Francisco removed him from the deal because of the potential impact on next year's compensatory draft picks for the Patriots. Instead, the 49ers released Hoyer, which made him a free agent.


Hoyer signed with the 49ers at the start of free agency in March and was the undisputed starting quarterback headed into the regular season. Six games into the season, during a matchup against the Washington Redskins, an ineffective Hoyer was replaced by rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard, who was declared as the starter going forward.

Of course, Garoppolo will become the 49ers' starting quarterback as soon as the coaching staff feels he is comfortable enough with the playbook.

"We'll look at that week to week," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said of the timeframe to play Garoppolo. "It's a huge challenge, Jimmy coming here, never playing in this offense before. I know it's completely different terminology from what he had in New England and college. And that takes a lot of time. I know Jimmy's going to come in here and do everything he can to get ready. I know we are too but by no means are we just trying to rush the process."

Through just over five games this season with the 49ers, Hoyer completed 58-percent of his passes for 1,245 yards, four touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 74.1.
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