Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will head into the 2017 NFL season as defending champs, and the QB will be on the cover of Madden.
Tom Brady willed his team to the Super Bowl title to cap the 2016 NFL season, and for his efforts, he will be on the cover of the latest installment of Madden. Brady will be hoping to avoid the Madden curse, which appears to be a very real thing in the NFL. The rest of the AFC is hoping that that is the case next season, but the odds are that Brady and company are in for another special season this year.
Cody Kessler started a handful of games for the Cleveland Browns last season, and it appears he may be back under center to start the 2017 NFL season. Head coach Hue Jackson said that the job is his to lose, despite the fact they traded for Brock Osweiler and then drafted DeShone Kizer in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Kessler threw for six touchdowns in his eight starts last season but had trouble staying healthy for extended periods of time.
Another quarterback who is hoping to have a strong season in 2017 is Blake Bortles, the one-time savior in Jacksonville. After putting up solid numbers in 2015, albeit mostly in garbage time, Bortles took a major step back last season. The team went out and drafted a stud of a running back in Leonard Fournette, so it will be interesting to see what kind of pressure that takes of Bortles in the passing game.
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Deshaun Watson was thought of so highly by the Houston Texans, that they jumped up 12 spots to select him with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. This weekend, Watson signed his rookie contract with the team, and will now begin his battle against Tom Savage for the starting quarterback spot with the Texans. The job is Savage’s to lose, but Watson brings the kind of winning pedigree that has been missing in Houston at the quarterback position for quite a while.
Finally, the New Orleans Saints were dealt a bad blow this offseason, as starting center Max Unger injured his foot. The Saints expect to get Unger back at mid-season, but with how loaded the NFC South is, that may be too late. Quarterback Drew Brees is still one of the best in the league, but the lack of Unger is going to weigh heavy on him and the passing game at the start of the 2017 NFL season.