FOXBORO — Bailey Zappe’s current situation is an undeniably uncomfortable one. So much so that his head coach and veteran position mate both openly acknowledged the third-year quarterback’s predicament.
It’s “awkward,” Jerod Mayo said, for Zappe to be the lone returning member of a QB group that added a respected veteran (Jacoby Brissett) and two rookies (including No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye) this offseason. Brissett called it “the elephant in the room.”
Zappe, though, said there’s been little talk of said elephant inside the Patriots facility — and that he hasn’t experienced any “true awkwardness” as the lame-duck incumbent in an overhauled unit.
“I’ve been having fun, y’all,” a smiling Zappe said after Wednesday’s OTA practice. “They bring in guys every year, obviously. They want everybody to compete, and that’s what they’ve been telling us this entire time: that everybody’s going to get an opportunity, everybody’s going to compete.
“And just like Mayo said, it depends on what you do with that opportunity.”
The moves New England made behind center this offseason, however, weren’t your standard roster shuffling. Armed with a top-three draft pick after a 4-13 finish in 2023, the Patriots traded Mac Jones, drafted Maye to be their new franchise QB and signed Brissett to mentor him (and possibly start over him while the high-upside 21-year-old acclimates to the NFL). They also took a sixth-round flier on rocket-armed prospect Joe Milton III.
Of the seven different QBs who spent time with New England last season, Zappe is the only one still with the team. And after watching how he performed down the stretch in 2023, it’s hard to imagine him ever throwing another meaningful pass for the Patriots unless catastrophe strikes the rest of their current depth chart.
Zappe started the final six games last season following Jones’ benching, and though he steered the team to two primetime road upsets, he lacked the consistency needed to run an effective offense. Over his final two starts, he threw five interceptions with no touchdowns, and the Patriots lost both.
“There were some things personally that I felt like I did really good,” Zappe said, “and there were some things that I feel I did really bad at. Those are things obviously throughout the summer that I’ve been continuing to work on. I’ve been with (offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt), I’ve been with (QBs coach) T.C. (McCartney), and I’ve talked to Jacoby about some of those things and how I can fix those things and not have them happen and cost us games. Because when you look back at it, mistakes that I made cost us wins.”
Mayo said he’s seen improvement from Zappe this spring, and that the 25-year-old has handled his tricky spot “fantastically.” But the first-year head coach also said the Patriots will begin to pare down their roster between OTAs and training camp in July, which could mean jettisoning one of their four QBs.
It obviously won’t be Maye. It won’t be Brissett, either, who signed an $8 million contract this offseason and, at this very early juncture, looks like the favorite to start Week 1. That would leave a decision between Zappe and Milton, the latter of whom did not participate in Wednesday’s practice.
What’s Zappe’s view on all of that?
“They’ve told all of us that this was going to be a competition,” he said. “Everybody’s going to have an opportunity to go out there and prove that they can be that guy. All four of us are going to do our best to do that, and then whoever gets that job, the other three of us are going to help that guy do whatever he can on the field to win games.”
The Patriots have integrated Maye more slowly than expected, having the highly touted rookie rep behind both Brissett and Zappe in 11-on-11 drills in both of their first two practices held in front of reporters.
But that setup surely will shift as Maye gains experience and the season draws closer. With no clear path to playing time in New England, Zappe’s best hope might be performing well enough in the preseason to entice a team to trade for him.
For now, though, Zappe remains a Patriot, and he’s making the best of a bad draw.
“I like Zap a lot,” Brissett said. “… This is a tough situation, and he’s accepted that. He’s going out there every day and competing, and he’s doing a really good job. He’s making a lot of plays.”