Editor’s Note: With training camp kicking off next week, Patriots Insider Phil Perry is highlighting key position battles to watch on the practice fields outside Gillette Stadium. We’ve already hit on cornerbacks, wide receivers and offensive line. Next up: backup quarterback.
Drake Maye will have the attention of all eyeballs at Patriots upcoming training camp practices. Jacoby Brissett and his hold on the top spot on the quarterback depth chart will be closely monitored as well.
But there’s another battle brewing in Foxboro when it comes to the most important position on the field. Both Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton remain on the roster, yet there may be only one spot on the roster available to them by summer’s end.
Which one ends up being the No. 3 behind center for offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt? And is there any chance that third spot goes to someone who isn’t even with the team at the moment?
Let’s take a look at a few different scenarios…
The favorite
At the moment, Joe Milton looks to me like the best bet to grab the third quarterback spot on the 53-man roster. If there is one. He’s so physically gifted that cutting him at the end of camp — therefore making him available to other teams across the NFL that may be interested in bringing him along — could result in a lost asset and a wasted sixth-round draft pick.
Has Milton done anything to this point to earn that roster spot? Not necessarily. He’s flashed serious arm talent. His frame makes him stand out even next to other big-bodied passers like Maye and Brissett. But he barely saw any team reps in minicamp, which seemed to be another indication that the Patriots view him as a long-term developmental player.
But in an organization that will apparently take a Packersian approach to quarterback investment, Milton feels like the best bet to stick on the roster over Zappe.
The ‘remember me?’ option
There is a world in which the Patriots are confident they can get Milton onto their practice squad by releasing him at the end of camp and bringing him back once he’s cleared waivers.
After all, no team was willing to draft Milton until the Patriots did at pick No. 193. He’s 24 years old. And by the end of the summer, any prospective new team for Milton will have to go out of its way to get him up to speed in a new system with a new playbook and a new coaching staff.
Will another team be willing to use a valuable 53-man roster spot on a quarterback they haven’t met with since the draft if the Patriots themselves aren’t?
If Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo would prefer to try to land Milton on their practice squad, they could be encouraged to hold onto Zappe. He’d provide an experienced bench option for New England should a worst-case scenario present itself early in the season.
For instance, if the decision is made by Patriots brass that Maye isn’t ready to play early in his rookie season, and if Brissett ends up being banged up, then the Patriots could trot Zappe onto the field. The points in favor of that approach are that he’s started NFL games over the last two years, he’s familiar with the team’s offensive personnel, and he’s spent an entire offseason with this new coaching staff and learning this new system.
The other possibility would be that, if the above situation became a reality, the Patriots would add another veteran not named Zappe to step in for Brissett.
Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett spoke about what he’s doing to mentor Drake Maye, Joe Milton III, and Bailey Zappe
The dark horse(s)
Let’s continue down this hypothetical path because it’s one for which the Patriots may have to prepare.
Here’s the situation: Brissett is the starter, Maye is the No. 2, and Milton is the No. 3. With that grouping, there’s a chance neither rookie is deemed a good fill-in for Brissett should Brissett get injured.
Perhaps that’s when a veteran free agent gets a call from Foxboro.
Ryan Tannehill, Trevor Siemian and Blaine Gabbert all remain free agents at the moment. And all have some kind of experience in the West Coast style of offense that’ll be deployed by Van Pelt this fall.
Tannehill played for Arthur Smith in a run-heavy, under-center attack in Tennessee and had his best season in 2019. Siemian played for Smith in 2020 in Tennessee and Gary Kubiak in Minnesota in 2018. Gabbert has most recently been in a different type of offense under Andy Reid in Kansas City, but he did play in Matt LaFleur’s Shanahan-influenced attack in Tennessee — preceding Smith — in 2018.
All would have some level of understanding of Van Pelt’s philosophy. All are available at the moment. And if the Patriots don’t want to dedicate a roster spot to Zappe when the regular season kicks off, perhaps one of them could be New England’s break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option.