New England Patriots' make major QB moves, only have Mac Jones left on the roster

Shocking, the New England Patriots parted ways with both Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham, leaving third-year QB Mac Jones as the only passer on the roster. Seeing both of the backups released earlier this week was quite surprising. With just a little over a week until the start of the 2023 NFL season, Mac Jones is the only QB on the roster.

This is an interesting situation to be in for the New England Patriots, who will surely have someone as the QB2 by the time week one rolls around. And I guess it is still possible that the Patriots sign one or both of Zappe and Cunningham back to the practice squad or even active roster. At the moment though, it doesn't appear like either will be on the active roster come week one.

These major QB moves obviously show a huge faith in Mac Jones but also present an interesting situation: who in the heck will the backup QB be for the New England Patriots? Well, one name sticks out to be as a very good candidate to be the backup to Mac Jones, and that would be none other than Carson Wentz.

The New England Patriots made a huge mistake by not trading for Trey Lance, but that's over at this point. The only other QB in the NFL that I think the Patriots have a feasible shot at landing and who may still have something left is Carson Wentz, a former MVP candidate and Super Bowl champion.

Wentz began his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and enjoyed a few strong years before falling apart in 2020. He was then reunited with Frank Reich in Indianapolis in 2021, had a very solid bounce back season, but was shockingly traded to the Washington Commanders for 2022, where he again fell flat on his face. At this point, Wentz' starting days are probably behind him, but I do think the Patriots should make this move.

And I also think Carson Wentz could adequately serve as the QB2, at least better than Zappe or Cunningham would have. Being that Bill O'Brien does have some solid QB development under his belt, I am very intrigued about what he could do with Wentz, who has all the tools that a modern-day franchise QB needs. He's also had some stellar success in the NFL.

The Patriots appear to be a run-first team, and I think Carson Wentz might be a good fit in an offense that doesn't ask the QB to do a whole lot. Just some food for thought.