For the New England Patriots, the days of Tom Brady slinging the football downfield and hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy are starting to become a distant memory.
But they could very well have their next great franchise quarterback in rookie Drake Maye, the No. 3 overall pick in April’s draft.
Interestingly, in their preseason debut on Thursday, Maye barely played, getting off just three pass attempts, while Bailey Zappe had 20 pass attempts.
Legendary Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski said that Zappe “needs to be freed” by either trading him or releasing him so that Maye can be given the keys to the team’s offense, per Mike Kadlick.
Gronkowski even predicted that Zappe will not be a member of the Patriots by the end of training camp.
Rob Gronkowski on the #Patriots QB situation (via @FTFonFS1):
“Bailey Zappe needs to be freed. They either gotta let him go or they gotta trade him, because he’s taking away reps from Drake Maye — he’s taking away from Joe Milton.
Bailey Zappe’s not gonna be on that team by…
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) August 9, 2024
Zappe started six of his 10 games in 2023, and he threw for 1,272 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 59.9 percent of his pass attempts — not exactly earth-shattering numbers.
Maye threw for 3,608 yards and 24 touchdowns in 12 games for the University of North Carolina last season, and in many other years, he likely would’ve been the first QB drafted or even the No. 1 overall pick.
It will be a rough ride back to Super Bowl contention for the Patriots, and thus there is no real reason for them to start Zappe and allow Maye to duck the first stages of his NFL development.
