Young quarterbacks are the present and future of the AFC East

There is no greater example of the emphasis on young quarterbacks in today’s NFL than the AFC East. Especially after what happened on Tuesday morning.

With Bill Belichick deciding the future is now for the Patriots by releasing veteran Cam Newton after one season as his starter and going with rookie Mac Jones, the 15th overall pick in the 2021 draft, the division features no starting quarterback over the age of 25.

Josh Allen is now the "elder statesman" of this group entering his fourth NFL season, Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa is 23, and Jones and Jets starter Zach Wilson are 22.

The kids are most definitely in charge.

And over the next decade, or even longer, we’ll see what could develop into some of the most memorable rivalries in pro football. That process begins almost immediately: Jones will face Tagovailoa, the quarterback he followed at Alabama, in the Patriots-Dolphins Week 1 matchup in New England, the same day Wilson goes against Carolina’s Sam Darnold, the quarterback he replaced with the Jets. A week later, it’s Wilson vs. Jones at MetLife Stadium, as the age-old Jets-Patriots rivalry takes a decidedly younger turn with these two first-round rookies.

Belichick surprised plenty of people around the league with his decision to move on from Newton, but maybe it’s not all that shocking considering the Patriots’ circumstances. Belichick staked his team’s future on Jones on draft day, as he selected the quarterback who starred for former Belichick assistant-turned-college-football-czar Nick Saban at Alabama. It would have been only a matter of time before Jones got the job, and Newton was viewed as a bridge quarterback until Jones was ready.

As it turned out, Jones showed he was ready sooner rather than later. He outperformed Newton in training camp, looked extraordinarily comfortable in extensive preseason game action, including Sunday night’s finale against the Giants, and had already built credibility inside the locker room.

Newton’s cause wasn’t helped when he chose not to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and was forced to miss five days last week because of a testing protocol violation. The restrictions for unvaccinated players are much greater than for those who have gotten the vaccine, and Newton’s absence underscored how vulnerable the team might have been had there been COVID-related issues during the season. Remember, too, that Newton missed time last season after testing positive for COVID, and he acknowledged that it took him several weeks to fully shake off symptoms. He finished with just eight touchdown passes, the fewest of any opening week starter who played at least seven games.

COVID issues weren’t the driving factor here; remember that Allen remains unvaccinated, something that troubles Bills coach Sean McDermott. But Allen, with a newly minted $258 million contract, isn’t going anywhere.

The fact that Jones was on equal footing or even ahead of Newton strictly in quarterback terms made it easier for Belichick to decide to move on. Jones may not become the next Tom Brady, but when a first-round quarterback shows this kind of promise this early, you go with the bigger investment. Especially with the players already rallying around him.

"Mac has done a great job," Patriots center David Andrews said. "Come in, worked really hard, done a lot of good things, like a lot of players this preseason."

"You can tell he has what it takes from the first practice with him," veteran running back James White said. "He has high expectations for himself."

Those expectations are now shared by Patriots fans hoping that Jones can produce even a sliver of the success that Brady delivered over two decades. It’s a lot to ask of anyone to be compared to the greatest quarterback of all time, but the moment doesn’t seem too big for Jones.

Nor does the weight of expectations seem to bother the three other twentysomething quarterbacks he’ll be competing against in the division. Allen may be ready to win a Super Bowl. Tagovailoa hopes to take a major step forward and silence the talk of a trade for Deshaun Watson. And Wilson looks ready to seize his moment with the Jets.

The kids are ready to go. It’ll be fascinating to watch them blossom into what could become a golden age for AFC East quarterbacks.

By Bob Glauber

Special to NewsdayBobGlauber

Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”