The New England Patriots will add to their quarterback room by signing free agent Cody Kessler, ESPN.com reported Wednesday.
Kessler, 26, was in camp with the Philadelphia Eagles but was cut as the team went with Josh McCown and Nate Sudfeld as backups to Carson Wentz.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick shed little light on the signing, as it had yet to become official by the time he spoke with the media.
“Whatever our decisions are, it’d be more roster management,” Belichick told reporters, according to MassLive.com.
So, he won’t be usurping Tom Brady?
Kessler will likely serve with rookie Jarrett Stidham as insurance behind Brady in New England. Brady has missed some practice time with calf issues.
Stidham made his debut last week, when his third pass attempt was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Jamal Adams in the Patriots’ 30-14 victory over the Jets.
Has the fourth-round pick out of Auburn lost Belichick’s trust?
“Jarrett’s been with us all the way through, practicing every day,” Belichick said. “He’s gotten, intermittently, a lot of reps in the offense depending on the situation, from week-to-week, preseason, regular season, depending on what we were doing at that particular time, whether it be preseason games or training camp practices or regular-season practices. He’s come a long way.”
Kessler was a 2016 third-round pick out of USC, and he appeared in 12 games (eight starts) for the Cleveland Browns across the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The Browns sent him to Jacksonville in March 2018 for a conditional seventh-round pick, and he made four starts in five appearances for the Jaguars last season.
He has completed 224 of 349 passes (64.2 percent) for 2,215 yards, with eight touchdowns and five interceptions, in 17 career games.
— With Field Level Media