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On Monday, the Patriots cut quarterback Nathan Rourke, whose long journey from Canada to the brink of the NFL has taken many an interesting detour. Now, it has taken another, as the New York Giants have claimed him off waivers and will sign him to a contract. Once there, it will be interesting to see what position the Giants assign Rourke.
He was a quarterback in New England, even if only briefly and never on the active 53-man roster. Rourke began last season with the Jaguars, but underwent foot surgery last January. He stuck with Jacksonville through camp and pulled off one of the highlights of the entire NFL preseason when he broke four tackles and threw a touchdown pass against the Cowboys in August.
But the Jags bumped him to the practice squad and eventually cut him all together in December. The Patriots picked him up immediately after, and put Rourke on the practice squad. They re-signed him in March but released him this week.
Nathan Rourke Was a CFL Star
Rourke has a fascinating history for a player who is still only 25 years old and has never thrown an NFL pass. He is a native of Canada and played collegiately at Ohio, twice winning the Jon Cornish trophy for the top Canadian player in the NCAA. He was a top dual-threat quarterback, and scored 109 touchdowns in three years, 60 by air and 49 as a runner.
Coming form college, he was not drafted by an NFL team but was a second-round pick by the BC Lions of the CFL. He wound up starting for the Lions in 2022 and set a CFL record with a 78.7% completion rate. Despite missing much of the season with a Lisfranc injury that required surgery on his foot, Rourke was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player.
That has not quite transferred to NFL success, of course, but Rourke is obviously a commodity that has gotten some attention around the league. He is a top-shelf athlete and, before starting his career in the CFL, he worked out for the New York Giants—as a receiver.
Rourke at least has the makings of an exhibition game star. In three games in the 2023 preseason, he went 23-for-35 passing with 348 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 39 yards and a touchdown, though he did commit two fumbles.
Patriots Quarterback Depth has Been Rebuilt
The Patriots enter 2024 in a much different position, quarterback-wise, than they were in for much of 2023, when Mac Jones disappointed and Bailey Zappe did not do much behind him. For a brief period, Rourke was the No. 3 option for a team whose Top 2 were in danger of being booted from the league.
Jones is gone to Jacksonville now. Zappe is still on hand, but the starting battle will be down to Jacoby Brissett and rookie Drake Maye, with sixth-round pick Joe Milton the third option.
That is likely to mean the end of the line for Zappe, who was a fourth-round pick in 2022 and made eight starts in two seasons with the Patriots. New England has not yet made a move on Zappe, but it’s a longshot that he will be on the roster, even the practice squad, next year.
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