At this moment, the New England Patriots have four quarterbacks on their roster (Jacoby Brissett, Drake Maye, Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton III), and all of them have been getting opportunities throughout training camp and in their first preseason game.
However, in the near future, head coach Jerod Mayo and executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf will likely trim the group down to three. But, before we get to that point, former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski had some advice for Mayo about what to do with the room.
"My hot take is that Bailey Zappe needs to be freed," Gronkowski said on "First Things First" on FOX Sports. "They have to either let him go, or they have to trade him because he's taking away reps from Drake Maye. He's taking away reps from Joe Milton. Bailey Zappe isn't going to be on that team by the end of training camp. Bailey Zappe needs to be freed so that he can go to another team and show what he has."
Gronkowski also mentioned how weird it was that Maye only got six plays in the preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers, and he's not the only one who feels that way.
New England invested that high draft pick in Maye that could've been used to upgrade another position or in a trade, but he hasn't been given the best opportunity to compete for the starting job.
At the same time, however, after watching how poorly the offensive line blocked for him in the joint practice session against the Philadelphia Eagles, maybe they really have been trying to keep him healthy. Still, Maye should get some work with the top offense in practice, and Zappe's opportunities in the games are better off going to someone who might have a future with the team.
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