The Patriots’ 2023 season certainly took a turn when the offense suddenly looked competent with Bailey Zappe as the starting quarterback in Week 14.

So, is this sustainable? And what does Zappe’s future with the organization look like after Thursday’s start?

That’s what fans want to know in this week’s mailbag.

Because there is absolutely no benefit to most people in the organization to tank or play for a better draft pick.

No one outside of Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft and Jonathan Kraft knows what’s going to happen at head coach next season, but let’s say — to use as an example — that Belichick is not back in 2024. Why would he want to lose games to improve the team’s draft pick if he’s not going to be here?

Let’s take Ross Douglas for example. He just left the Patriots to take a job at Syracuse. What would have been his motivation for tanking? There’s no incentive for any coach or player who isn’t going to be with the Patriots in 2024 to lose or tank. And the Patriots can’t guarantee a job for every person currently on staff and the roster to be back.

It’s not just realistic in any way, shape or form for a team to try to lose games with five weeks left in the season.

So, why go to Bailey Zappe? Because they couldn’t possibly start Mac Jones again after he had been benched four times. So, they switched things up, Zappe played better than Jones, they won a game and are still currently slated to draft second.

Good question. Zappe is currently on a three-year, $2.955 million contract. He has a $985k cap hit in 2024 and a $1.1 million cap hit in 2025. As far as backup quarterbacks go, he’s a major bargain.

I find it a bit implausible, but if Zappe does maintain his Week 14 level of play for the rest of the season, and if the Patriots don’t pick a quarterback with a Top 5 pick, and if they don’t sign an experienced backup like Jacoby Brissett, then there is a shot that Zappe could beat out a rookie picked later in the draft for the job next summer.

That’s a lot of caveats.

I think the Patriots should take a quarterback with their first pick in the draft as long as there’s a player worth selecting at that point. And I think that player should be the Week 1 starter. But if the Patriots keep winning and fall down the draft, or if they can’t take the quarterback of their choosing, then it’s possible Zappe could serve as some sort of bridge, but only if he does maintain this level of play not only for the rest of the season but also next summer. And the Patriots should bring in two quarterbacks to serve as competition.

Everything I said above but also an entire season maintaining the level of play he was performing at in the first half of Thursday night’s win over the Steelers. So, a lot.

I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility. It seems like everyone assumes Belichick won’t be back, but the defense is playing elite football, and we’ll see if the offense can continue on the right track.

I do think there should be some sort of ultimatum that if Belichick is back he has to give up some power on the personnel side, because things have not worked out in free agency or the draft in recent years.

I think so, but the Patriots haven’t played him since they claimed him off waivers from the Jaguars a month ago.

But Montgomery was waived after giving up a blocked punt and dropping a pass on Thursday night. The Patriots need some sort of backup option behind Ezekiel Elliott, and I would trust Hasty to make plays as a ball-carrier over Montgomery at this point in their careers.

I could certainly see that if they don’t like their options wherever they’re picking. There’s a lot of time before the 2024 NFL Draft, but I certainly like the idea of coming away with a quarterback or Marvin Harrison Jr., but if those options aren’t available, then there could be some logic to moving back.