Patriots Sign Third QB To Join Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe

Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe gained a new position mate Thursday.

The New England Patriots signed former Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals backup Trace McSorley to fill the third spot on their quarterback depth chart.

McSorley has started one game in his NFL career, going 24-for-45 for 217 yards with one interception in a 19-16 Cardinals loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past December. He also carried the ball 15 times for 61 yards across six 2022 appearances.

The 27-year-old spent his first three seasons in Baltimore, where he was third string, first behind Lamar Jackson and Robert Griffin III and then behind Jackson and Tyler Huntley.

Before entering the NFL as a sixth-round draft pick in 2019, McSorley starred at Penn State, setting several program passing records as a three-year starter. He did not overlap with current Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, committing to the Nittany Lions after O’Brien left to take over as head coach of the Houston Texans, but was in the same 2014 recruiting class as new Patriots tight end and fellow Penn State alum Mike Gesicki.

Gesicki recently spoke about how “excited” he is to play under O’Brien, who was Penn State’s head coach from 2012-13.

McSorley is undersized for a quarterback at 6 feet, 202 pounds, but he’s a good athlete, testing in the 87th percentile for QBs in the short shuttle and 92nd percentile in the 40-yard dash (4.57 seconds) at his pre-draft combine, per Mockdraftable. He used those skills to rush for 1,697 yards and 30 touchdowns in college.

The Patriots had an opening in their QB room after cutting veteran third-stringer Brian Hoyer last month. They still could look to add another signal-caller in the 2023 NFL Draft, which begins April 27, or through undrafted free agency.