Vincent Frank
The New England Patriots had only one quarterback on their initial 53-man roster after waiving Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham earlier in the week.
At that point it was obvious head coach Bill Belichick and Co. would look outside of the organization for a backup to QB1 Mac Jones despite both Zappe and Cunningham returning to their practice squad.
That happened Thursday afternoon with New England claiming former Carolina Panthers quarterback Matt Corral off waivers.
Surprisingly, the 2022 third-round pick was waived by the Panthers earlier in the week. Corral, 24, did not get into a regular-season game during his time with the Panthers. The former Mississippi star suffered a Lisfranc injury during the 2022 preseason and missed his entire rookie campaign. Once the Panthers selected Bryce Young No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, Corral was the odd-man out.
The No. 94 overall pick in last year’s draft was seen as a potential first-round selection heading into the annual event. However, a leg injury he suffered in his final game with Ole Miss pushed Corral down the draft board.
Matt Corral college stats: 67% completion, 8,287 passing yards, 75 total TD, 23 INT
Corral played in all three of Carolina’s preseason games, completing 28-of-47 passes for 323 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions.
New England was 14th on the waiver wire order, meaning that 13 other teams passed up on Corral. That included QB-needy squads such as the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams.
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New England Patriots depth chart at quarterback
Corral now goes to the Patriots’ 53-man roster and should end up being the QB2 behind Jones to open the regular season. This means he’ll be active on game days.
It’s somewhat of a risk given that Corral last threw a pass in a meaningful game back on New Year’s Day of 2022.
As for Zappe, it was a surprise to see the 2022 fourth-round pick from Western Kentucky waived in the first place. It was even more of a surprise to see him pass through waivers and revert back to the Patriots’ practice squad.
