Eli Manning, Andy Dalton floated as options to replace Tom Brady in New England

Tom Brady’s future with the New England Patriots obviously is as uncertain as it has ever been, with the veteran quarterback set to hit free agency for the first time in his career.

If the two parties part ways after a two-decade-long dynastic run, the Patriots will have some big shoes to fill in replacing the six-time Super Bowl champion. Could the Patriots tab Eli Manning or Andy Dalton as the short-term successor to Brady?

Brady all but confirmed in a heartfelt Instagram post earlier this week that he will indeed suit up for his 21st NFL season in 2020. However, there is a belief that Brady may be intrigued by the prospect of moving to a new team.

The “wait-and-see” status of Brady’s situation with the Patriots of course has unleashed rampant speculation about where he might land. This unsurprisingly has also led to conjecture about what the Patriots will do at the quarterback position should Brady depart.

Two quarterbacks who have been floated amid the uncertainty are shockers: Manning, 39, and Dalton, 32.

“There is only one veteran name on there where I sorta stop and go, ‘I wouldn’t hate the idea of it,’” Michael Felger, host of Boston radio’s WBZ-FM’s “Felger and Massarotti,” said Thursday, per the New York Post. “There’s only one veteran name on that list where I would go, ‘I bet Bill [Belichick] could win with him’ … Eli.”

NBC Sports’ Peter King, meanwhile, laid out why Dalton may be an intriguing choice for Belichick, though he prefaced his comments by saying he knows “people are going to laugh” at his opinion.

“I think Andy Dalton would be a very compelling guy to either be their quarterback for a while or to be their bridge guy to the next quarterback or to take Jarrett Stidham under his wing as Brady did some this year and make the best of Jarrett Stidham for 2021 and beyond,” King said.

Interesting arguments aside, the thought of either of these two graybeards suiting up for the Patriots next season seems as far-fetched as the notion of Brady playing for any other team other than New England. Stranger things have happened, though.