Patriots Have These Two Options With Bailey Zappe On Practice Squad

Bill Belichick’s risky quarterback bet paid off.

Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham cleared waivers after being released by the Patriots, allowing New England to sign both QBs to their practice squad on Wednesday.

Zappe now can continue to serve as Mac Jones’ understudy, which reportedly was the Patriots’ preferred plan, while Cunningham both develops as a multi-positional offensive prospect and helps New England prepare for the various mobile signal-callers it’ll face this season.

Exactly how the Patriots will handle Zappe’s backup status, however, remains to be seen.

NFL rules allow teams to elevate a player from their practice squad to the gameday roster a maximum of three times per season. After three elevations, that player would need to be signed to the 53-man roster in order to appear in another game for the team.

So, the Patriots could choose to operate with just one QB on their actual roster — Jones — for the next several weeks. They could elevate Zappe for their games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, then sign either him or someone else to their 53 ahead of their Week 4 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys.

That strategy isn’t foolproof, though. Teams can sign players from other club’s P-squads at any time, unless that player is designated as “protected.” The protection system has been in place since 2020, but the Patriots have utilized it just once.

NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported Zappe had offers from seven other teams after he cleared waivers, so there still is interest in the 2022 fourth-round pick around the league.

New England’s other option is to re-sign Zappe to their 53-man roster ahead of Week 1 after moving a rostered player to short-term injured reserve.

Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton and offensive tackle Riley Reiff are two prime candidates for such a move, as both have been sidelined with injuries and did not practice Wednesday. If either is placed on IR, he would be eligible to return in Week 5, and the Patriots would free up a roster spot.

The Patriots also still could add another veteran signal-caller in the coming days or weeks to join Jones, Zappe and Cunningham, who’s splitting his time between QB and wide receiver. That Belichick was OK was potentially losing Zappe to a waiver claim suggests he could be looking to upgrade at that spot.