The New England Patriots drafted North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye at No. 3 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, which is bad news for the other QBs on the roster. The team already traded 2021 No. 15 overall selection Mac Jones, and now another domino has fallen as the Patriots announced they are waiving journeyman signal-caller Nathan Rourke.

“The Patriots informed QB Nathan Rourke that he is being waived, per sources,” Mike Reiss of ESPN reported on Monday. “This thins the QB room to 4 — Jacoby Brissett, Drake Maye, Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton.”

It’s no surprise at all that Rourke got the ax after the team drafted Drake Maye. Rourke is a 25-year-old Canadian QB who went to Ohio University and had some success right after college in the CFL. For the last two seasons, he has bounced around practice squads and waivers in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Patriots.

With Rourke gone and four QBs remaining, now things get interesting for the Patriots heading toward the 2024 season.

Over the course of the next four months, first-time head coach Jerod Mayo has to figure out two big things. Can Drake Maye start Week 1 for the Pats? And whether he does or not, who will be the temporary starter/primary backup on the roster with Maye?

Drake Maye and the Patriots QB situation heading into the offseason

North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye is selected as the No. 3 pick of the first round by the New England Patriots during the 2024 NFL Draft at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Ideally, Drake Maye will blow everyone away in mini and training camps and be the unquestioned Patriots starter in Week 1.

If that happens, then the big competition is for the backup spot. If it doesn’t, then it’s all about who will start for a few weeks (or maybe even for the season) while Maye develops. Either way, it seems like former Tennessee QB and 2024 sixth-round pick Joe Milton will make the roster as the developmental QB3.

That leaves the big battle between Jacoby Brissett and Bailey Zappe.

In 2022, as a fourth-round rookie, Zappe took New England by storm, outplaying incumbent starter Mac Jones and going 2-0 as a starter. However, the next season didn’t go nearly as well as Zappe managed just a 2-4 mark in his six starts.

The Patriots have a new coaching staff, although it isn’t that new as Mayo has on been the team’s defensive staff since 2019. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt is new to Foxborough, though, landing there after working OC jobs with the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns.

Will Van Pelt go with the backup who still has some upside or go all-in on the grizzled veteran on the roster? Brissett has played eight NFL seasons, putting up an 18-30 mark as a starter overall. While the numbers aren’t impressive, Brissett is a consummate professional and you know exactly what you’re going to get from him. What you’re going to get is inconsistency with flashes of brilliance, but he is a QB who can run an offense in a pinch.

Now, all this will be less important if Drake Maye wins the starting job in camp, and could even be moot if Joe Milton shows enough development that the team feels comfortable with him as the backup. If these things happen, both Brissett and Zappe will become expendable.

For now, though, we know that Nathan Rourke is out, and the Patriots head toward next season with a four-way battle for no more than three roster spots.