Patriots To Cut QB Cody Kessler

The Patriots’ quarterback depth chart will soon be two-man group again. They are cutting Cody Kessler, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). This will leave Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer as the Pats’ QBs.

New England acquired Kessler in late September of last year, and the former Cleveland third-round pick bounced on and off the Pats’ roster. But the USC product spent most of last season with the Patriots. This move points to the team planning to add another quarterback.

Despite being a fourth-round pick who threw four passes as a rookie, Stidham is rumored to have the inside track at being Tom Brady‘s immediate successor. Hoyer re-signed with the Pats because he was told he would be able to compete for the starting job. Kessler was not expected to factor into that equation, but his departure opens the door to questions about the Pats’ plans for this additional quarterback job.

Kessler was under contract through the 2020 season; his release will save the Pats $935K in cap space. They entered Wednesday with just $708K in cap room.

Kessler has 12 career starts on his resume, the first eight coming with a 2016 Browns team that went 1-15. He briefly supplanted Blake Bortles with the 2018 Jaguars. For his career, Kessler has completed 64% of his passes and has thrown eight touchdown passes and five interceptions.

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