Patriots we don’t want to see on the field much in 2023
The New England Patriots have some players under contract that we should not want to see get much playing time in the 2023 season.
For varying reasons, there are a few players on the roster that I hope we don’t see much of in 2023. A couple of them can have their contracts voided by the team, but the financial ramifications might be hard to swallow.
There’s also another player that, for other reasons, I hope we don’t see take the field much. 2023 is setting up to be a huge year for the future of the franchise.
Let’s look at the three players we hope to not see on the field much in 2023.
Patriots we don’t want to see on the field much in 2023
1. Trent Brown, OL
Brown has played both left and right tackle for the Patriots and was not able to hold his own in 2022 at left tackle. There is a possibility that they move him back to right tackle, but I’m not sure what Brown can offer at this point on the Patriots.
Sure, he’s not bad at right tackle, but he’ll get into this lulls at times and often looks like he doesn’t want to be out there.
Trent Brown might be best suited as the backup swing tackle for the team.
2. Bailey Zappe, QB
I hope we don’t see Bailey Zappe in 2023, at all. I like Zappe and think he can probably function well as a QB2 in the NFL In fact, he looked quite solid in 2022 playing within Matt Patricia’s offense.
However, I think if we see Bailey Zappe, something went wrong. One of two things likely happened, right? Either Mac Jones got hurt again, or he was playing so poorly that he was benched.
The Pats could also bring in a more veteran backup to raise the floor of the QB room, and in that case, Zappe could even fall to the QB3 role, so I really hope he doesn’t see much game action.
3. Jonnu Smith, TE
Jonnu Smith hasn’t done much in the two years he’s been with the Pats. At this point, he’s a total non factor for the offense. The downside is his contract situation. No one is going to trade for his behemoth of a contract, and it isn’t easy to get rid of.
A post June 1st cut would force the Pats to eat over $12 million in dead money and would only net $4.5 million in savings.
Even a post June 1st trade would save them $10 million but they’d still have to eat $6 million in dead cap. I’d assume that some sort of contract restructure will be on the way for the 2023 season that would allow them to move off of Smith after the 2023 season.
Being that the Pats can add to the TE room, that should tell you Smith’s lack of impact for the team.