Vincent Frank
As NFL rosters were trimmed down to 53 Tuesday afternoon, New England Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe seemed to be safe.
A fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the former Western Kentucky star played well in limited action as a rookie. Some even believed he was ready to push Mac Jones for the QB1 job.
About that? In stunning news as the deadline to trim rosters passed, the Patriots reportedly waived Zappe. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport was the first to report the news.
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New England also released talented undrafted free agent Malik Cunningham, meaning that Jones is now the only quarterback on the Patriots’ 53-man roster. This is a clear indication that the Patriots will look at the NFL free agent market or trade block for a QB2 behind Jones. Carson Wentz, Colt McCoy and Nick Foles are among the veterans with starting experience available to New England.
As for the decision to waive Zappe, the Patriots have to be hoping he passes through waivers and is able to return to their practice squad. That seems to be a highly unlikely scenario.
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- Bailey Zappe stats (2022): 71% completion, 781 passing yards, 5 TD, 3 INT, 100.9 QB rating
At the very least, one figures that the Patriots would have been able to find a trade partner for the young quarterback. Moving on from a fourth-round pick who had impressed in limited action is a real surprise.
It was back in February that multiple reports indicated the Patriots didn’t see much of a talent difference between Jones and Zappe. Apparently, something changed between then and now.
