Why Bill Belichick Reportedly Decided Not To Release Matt Corral

Matt Corral’s brief tenure with the New England Patriots so far has been nothing short of bizarre.

Just nine days after claiming the 2022 third-round pick off waivers from the Carolina Panthers, the Patriots placed the backup quarterback on the exempt/left squad list instead of releasing him.

Corral reportedly was a no-show late in the week after being present during the open media portion of practice earlier in the week. Details on Corral’s absence are scarce, but Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer provided more context on the situation by discussing why Bill Belichick decided not to outright release the 24-year-old signal-caller.

“Another person told me that Bill did this out of fairness to the kid because he’s been through a lot,” Breer said Sunday on NBC Sports Boston. “It’s been well-documented why he fell in the draft in 2022. Some people saw him as a first-round talent. He winds up going at the end of the third round and it was in large part because of incidents in high school, some of the issues he had early on in college.

“At the very least, this is a very delicate situation right now for the Patriots, and I think out of respect for everything that Matt Corral’s gone through over the last six or seven years, Bill Belichick chose not to release him yet, to put him on that left squad list so they can get more information on where he’s at and how he’s doing.”

Breer added that it’s “not really a football matter” for Corral.

Corral seemed to be in line to compete with Bailey Zappe for the backup quarterback job, but with this situation taking place, the Patriots signed Zappe to the 53-man roster from the practice squad Saturday.

That will make Zappe the backup for starting quarterback Mac Jones when the Patriots face the Eagles at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET.