Bailey Zappe Hints He’s Happy About Mac Jones Trade
The New England Patriots are set to end the Mac Jones era with the reported trade of the quarterback to the Jacksonville Jaguars. This now leaves a hole at the top of the depth chart as New England heads into free agency and the draft.
Backup Bailey Zappe is now the only QB on the active roster at the moment, and he had an intriguing reaction to the news of the Jones trade.
Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald shared a screenshot from his Instagram that shows Zappe "liked" a post about Jones being sent to Jacksonville.
Now, this could mean a few things. The first, and least controversial, is that Zappe's happy for Jones as a person. After all, it was clear the former No. 15 overall pick was in desperate need of a fresh start. This provides that with another budding AFC team.
However, there's another reading that's just as plausible: Zappe is happy Jones is gone. There's been a few reports that Jones has ruffled teammates' feathers over the past season, and it's possible Zappe is one of those who's not a big fan of the Alabama product.
Also, there's the selfish aspect of the top-billed QB being gone. Zappe may believe he has a better chance of sticking around with the Patriots now considering he and Jones were unlikely to both return. That being said, this public display of happiness over a teammate being traded isn't the best look for Zappe, just since the context isn't clear.
Zappe is far from in the clear as well. There's serious buzz around the Pats adding a more proven veteran to either back up or mentor a rookie quarterback, who's expected to arrive in April's draft. That's at least two new arrivals who'll be hand-picked by the new regime.
The Jones trade gets the ball rolling on New England's QB moves this offseason, which are sure to pick up in the coming weeks.
In other Patriots news: