Rob Gronkowski Urges Patriots To Free Bailey Zappe For Drake Maye

Patriots fans felt they saw too much of Bailey Zappe in the team's first preseason game Thursday, and a four-time Super Bowl champion agreed.

After becoming a beloved figure, New England fans booed Zappe when he stepped onto the field at Gillette Stadium against the Carolina Panthers. The ire wasn't necessarily about the third-year quarterback, specifically. Supporters primarily were upset to see Drake Maye only play seven snaps in his first game action for the Patriots.

Zappe entered Thursday's matchup with about five minutes to go in the first quarter and exited with four minutes to go in the third quarter. The 25-year-old played mediocre football before Joe Milton III finished the game and wowed fans with his rushing and arm talent.

Head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters this week there was a plan for Maye, and he teased the rookie might play more snaps against the Philadelphia Eagles next Thursday. But Rob Gronkowski laid out a simpler way to get not only Maye but Milton more preseason action.

"My hot take is that Bailey Zappe needs to be freed," Gronk said on FS1's "First Things First" on Friday. "They either got to let him go or they got to trade him because he's taking away reps from Drake Maye. He's taking away reps from Joe Milton. And Bailey Zappe is not going to be on that team by the end of training camp. And Bailey Zappe needs to be freed so he can go to another team and show what he has."

Ironically, Zappe admitted during training camp that it was "hard" to not get as many practice reps as Jacoby Brissett and Maye. Zappe and Milton competed for the third quarterback job during training camp, and the 2024 sixth-round rookie made a strong case for himself to make the 53-man roster with his performance Thursday.

It's unknown if the Patriots could get anything for Zappe on the open market, especially since his preseason outing wasn't the most impressive. New England released JuJu Smith-Schuster on Friday, so it isn't afraid to make quick changes to help improve the roster.