29 August 2023 , 21:50
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Legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick has ruthlessly settled New England's quarterback debate, reportedly waiving backups Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham and leaving Mac Jones as the franchise's starter.
The move comes despite Zappe appearing in four games last season with two of those appearances being starts. Zappe also completed 30 of 51 passes in the preseason for 253 yards and a touchdown, while Cunningham, an undrafted rookie, attempted just six passes and also played as a receiver. Reports suggest the Patriots would like Zappe on their practice squad if he clears waivers.
Jones appears to be the man Belichick is betting on for the upcoming 2023 season but a veteran could be brought into the quarterback room to support the 24-year-old. NFL Network says Colt McCoy is a player on New England's radar but the 36-year-old, who spent last season with the Arizona Cardinals, has a number of offers.
The latest cuts come as no surprise with the franchise giving itself a four-day head start to cut down its roster following Friday's last preseason game against the Tennessee Titans. “There is a number of reasons for [starting early], one of them being just volume,” Belichick said on Monday.
"We have to make 37 transactions, and in some cases when the decision is clear cut, I think it just helps the player get a little bit of a head start on his future. If we don’t have a spot for him here, because of the relationship that we have with those guys, they’ve worked hard; they’ve done what we’ve asked them to do; they’ve done their best, maybe there is a spot for them somewhere else.
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“We’re giving them the opportunity to get out there a little bit ahead of the pack and at least now they can start putting some feelers out and their agent can start to work on it.
"I know that the transaction doesn’t become official until later in the week, but when a player has been released, he has the opportunity to start to look to see if there is going to be a practice squad opportunity or something else somewhere else in the league.”
Malik Cunningham has been waived by the Patriots (Getty)Belichick added: "Unfortunately, we all know that 90 has got to go to 53. It’s 37 players who can’t be on the 53-man roster, and we all knew that when we signed up for it. I’ve been on waivers myself a few times, so I know what that’s like to be told, ‘You don’t have a place here,’ and some of us end up somewhere else. It’s part of the process.
"Whether it’s the right or wrong thing to do, I don’t know, but I try to do the best that I can. I try to be respectful for the players and what they’re going through and what their future is, if it’s not here. I try to communicate that to them in the best way that I can. We deal with multiple people in the organization and talk to their representatives and so forth. We try to handle it as professionally as we can, let’s put it that way.”
New England have less than two weeks until the 2023 NFL season. They start off their campaign at home to Super Bowl finalists, the Philadelphia Eagles, on September 10.