One of the NFL's most contentious quarterback rooms received a shakeup on Tuesday morning as New England cut Bailey Zappe ahead of the 53-man roster deadline.
No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye will look to overtake Jacoby Brissett in one of the league's few ongoing quarterback battles, while fellow rookie Joe Milton III remains on the roster.
Zappe was also cut ahead of the 2023 season, later signing with the practice squad and rotating into the active roster before receiving his first start in Week 6. The 6-foot-1 gunslinger would play in 10 games for the Patriots, limping to a 2-8 record as the Mac Jones experiment and Bill Belichick's 24-season reign came to an end after a dismal season.
New coach Jared Mayo brought immediate change to New England's underperforming offense, selecting the franchise's quarterback of the future in Maye and adding career backup Jacoby Brissett as insurance for the highly regarded rookie. As such, Zappe returned to his third-string role to begin training camp and faced the looming prospect of the axe.
A lightly recruited high-school prospect with just one Division I offer at FCS program Houston Christian, Zappe embarked on one of the all-time great collegiate underdog stories, spending three years with the Huskies before following offensive coordinator Zach Kittley to FBS school Western Kentucky. Zappe launched an assault on the NCAA record book from the hilltop, setting all-time marks in passing yards (5.967) and touchdowns (62) while leading WKU to the C-USA championship game.
This historic campaign vaulted Zappe onto the NFL radar, where he was selected in the fourth round of the 2022 Draft . Zappe was handed unexpected playing time as a rookie — Jones was sidelined with a severe high-ankle sprain before backup Brian Hoyer sustained a concussion — and performed admirably in a pinch, completing more than 70 percent of his passes with a 5-3 TD:INT ratio en route to a 2-2 record.
He failed to replicate this early success in year 2, however, as his completion percentage dipped by more than 10 points while throwing nine picks to just six touchdowns. Zappe's struggles were not soon forgotten by the Patriots faithful, however, as he faced a chorus of boos upon replacing Maye in New England's preseason opener earlier this month.
Zappe's departure does little to impact one of the NFL's final outstanding starting quarterback battles less than two weeks from opening day, with Mayo offering seemingly contradictory statements over 24 hours. Speaking to reporters, Mayo was asked whether Maye would start if Brissett was injury, where he appeared to confirm the rookie as a backup.
"I would like to sit here and say 100%; he's our second-best quarterback on our roster right now," Mayo said. "I'm not sure until I watch the film."
However, Mayo made an appearance on WEEI's Greg Hill Show Monday, noting that Maye had outperformed the veteran this summer. "What I will say is that this is a true competition,” Mayo said. “It wasn’t fluff or anything like that. It’s true competition and I would say at this current point, Drake has outplayed Jacoby.”
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