The New England Patriots reportedly released quarterback Trace McSorley on Monday as they work toward trimming their roster down to 53 players by Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET deadline.
Could we see the Patriots make another move at quarterback in the near term?
It's no secret that backup quarterback Bailey Zappe didn't have a great summer. He wasn't stellar in training camp, and his performance in three preseason games was not encouraging, either. He finished the preseason with 30 completions on 51 pass attempts for 253 yards with one touchdown, zero interceptions and three fumbles (one lost).
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Zappe's performance in last Friday's preseason finale against the Tennessee Titans was particularly lackluster.
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The Patriots could still go into the 2023 regular season with Zappe as their backup quarterback. But if they consider making a change, who might be a fit?
Colt McCoy became available Monday when, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Arizona Cardinals released him.
McCoy appeared in four games for the Cardinals last season, including a Week 14 loss to the Patriots when Arizona starter Kyler Murray tore his ACL in the first half. McCoy completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 780 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions in 2023.
For his career, the 36-year-old veteran has completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 7,975 yards with 34 touchdowns and 32 interceptions in 55 games over 12 seasons. Those numbers don't exactly generate much excitement.
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McCoy has a lot more experience than Zappe, but the difference in talent is not enough to warrant making a switch. McCoy also isn't the most durable player. He dealt with an elbow injury in the offseason, and he had a concussion in 2022, a pectoral injury in 2021 and a fibula injury in 2018/19.
Moving on from Zappe isn't the worst idea. Replacing him with a veteran makes sense. McCoy isn't the right fit, though, given his recent injuries and lackluster performance over the last couple seasons.