While Drake Maye has given New England Patriots fans the most hope they’ve had at the quarterback position in a while, things aren’t nearly as bright for a lot of the QBs who have been on the roster in the post-Brady era. There have been plenty of letdowns, and most of those passers have tried to move on to greener pastures. But that doesn’t always work out so well.
There are few things that seem as cushy as a QB3 role for a Super Bowl contender — good pay, low pressure, you’re getting good coaching, a chance at a ring. But that job also comes with very little security, and that’s something Bailey Zappe is going to learn the hard way.
Bailey Zappe Could Be Kicked to the Curb For Second Time Since Leaving New England
Zappe is signed to a one-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, and after the initial offseason workout phase of OTAs and minicamp, his roster spot is already in jeopardy — again.
Zappe inked a deal for the Chiefs (for the second time since leaving New England) back in March when free agency opened. That deal was announced on the same day the Chiefs also landed their new QB2 in Gardner Minshew.
While the difference in their contracts doesn’t necessarily highlight Minshew as the obvious QB2 ($1.17 million compared to $1.10 for Zappe), it’s hard to look at their respective career numbers and expect anything else.
Bailey Zappe vs. Gardner Minshew Career Stats
| Zappe | Minshew | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts | 9 | 46 |
| Passing Yards | 2,223 | 11,950 |
| Touchdowns | 12 | 68 |
| Interceptions | 14 | 34 |
| Completion % | 62.1% | 62.3% |
| Yards per Attempt | 6.6 | 6.9 |
| Passer Rating | 76.0 | 88.5 |
So this immediately puts Zappe on some shaky footing. Unless you’re a top-end QB3 in this league, you’re likely destined to be waived and try to make it through to the practice squad. This also happens to be exactly what happened with Zappe last year.
The Chiefs signed him directly to the practice squad after the Patriots let him go, and eventually, he was signed to the Cleveland Browns’ active roster.
It also doesn’t even guarantee the QB3 spot for Zappe.
Practice Squad Could Be the Best-Case Scenario for Zappe
Zappe won’t just be handed the QB3 job in Kansas City. First, that’s rarely a spot teams are in love with any single player at. Plenty of quarterbacks will be released before the season as teams whittle their rosters down to 53, and that will give the Chiefs plenty of opportunities to upgrade over Zappe.
He’s also not even the only QB the Chiefs have under contract vying for the role. He’s still competing with Chris Oladokun.
Oladokun hasn’t done much at the NFL level, but he’s entering his third season with the Chiefs, having signed one-year deals in each of 2023, 2024, and now 2025. It’s hard to get too deep into analyzing a guy who has almost never seen the field, but it’s noteworthy that Andy Reid has kept him around for this long.
What Would Be Next for Zappe?
Luckily for Zappe, even an outright release from the Chiefs with no practice squad signing would still be far from the end of his career.
At 26 years old with plenty of experience as a backup plus 9 starts to his name, he won’t find any shortage of teams willing to give him a shot on their practice squad. And as teams get desperate, like the Browns last year, it’s not unrealistic to think he could be signed to an active roster from whatever practice squad he lands on.
So while it’s not all doom-and-gloom for Zappe, it’s also not hard to see just how precarious his position on the Chiefs roster is at this point of the offseason.
