Patriots fans felt they saw too much of Bailey Zappe in their team’s first preseason game on Thursday, and a four-time Super Bowl champion agreed.
After becoming a popular figure, Zappe was booed by New England fans when he took the field at Gillette Stadium against the Carolina Panthers. The anger wasn’t necessarily directed at the third-year quarterback specifically. Fans were mostly upset that Drake Maye only played seven snaps in his first game for the Patriots.
Zappe entered the game about five minutes before the end of the first quarter on Thursday and left the game four minutes before the end of the third quarter. The 25-year-old played mediocre football before Joe Milton III finished the game and wowed fans with his running and shooting talent.
Head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters this week that there is a plan for Maye, and he hinted that the rookie could play more snaps next Thursday against the Philadelphia Eagles. But Rob Gronkowski laid out a simpler path to getting not only Maye, but also Milton, more preseason practice.
The story continues below the ad
“My hot opinion is that Bailey Zappe needs to be released,” Gronk said Friday on FS1’s “First Things First.” “They either need to let him go or trade him because he’s taking reps away from Drake Maye. He’s taking reps away from Joe Milton. And Bailey Zappe will not be on this team at the end of training camp. And Bailey Zappe needs to be released so he can go to another team and show what he can do.”
Ironically, Zappe admitted during training camp that it was “tough” not to get in as many practices as Jacoby Brissett and Maye. Zappe and Milton competed for the third quarterback job during training camp, and the 2024 sixth-round rookie made a good case for the 53-man roster with his performance on Thursday.
It’s unknown if the Patriots could get anything for Zappe on the open market, especially since his preseason performance wasn’t the most impressive. New England released JuJu Smith-Schuster on Friday, so they’re not afraid to make quick moves to improve the roster.
