Cleveland Browns sign Bailey Zappe from the Chiefs with season in limbo after Deshaun Watson’s injury
The Cleveland Browns have signed Bailey Zappe to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad to bolster their quarterback options following Deshaun Watson’s injury.
The Browns’ season is in dire straits, with the team having won just one of their seven games and their $230 million QB now sidelined for the year with an Achilles injury.
Heading into a Week 8 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, Zappe has now signed with the team and is expected to fight for the starting role.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Jameis Winston are the two existing options available to Kevin Stefanski, but the former is struggling with a finger injury.
If he is unavailable on Sunday, it is believed Winston will start, with Zappe as his backup.
Bailey Zappe has signed with the Cleveland Browns from the Chiefs’ practice squad
Deshaun Watson was discharged with an Achilles tendon injury on Sunday, ending his 2024 season
Zappe was drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 draft by the New England Patriots and he started eight games over two seasons under Bill Belichick.
He threw more interceptions (12) than touchdowns (11), but did show flashes of top quarterback play during his time in New England.
With new coach Jerod Mayo eager to start over at the QB position, and the team drafting Drake Maye No. 3 overall, Zappe was released over the summer.
He landed in Kansas City, where he was on the practice squad with Patrick Mahomes and Carson Wentz, the team’s active quarterbacks.
The Browns defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second game of the NFL season, but have since lost their next five games, with Watson’s injury occurring in the 21-14 loss to the Bengals.
Zappe started eight games during his time in New England under the legendary Bill Belichick
Zappe married his wife Hannah earlier this year while they were still in New England
Watson was traded to the Browns in 2022 for six draft picks, including three first rounders, despite being sued by more than two dozen female massage therapists for sexual harassment and assault the year before.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam handed Watson the blockbuster $230 million contract in 2022.
Watson has been embroiled in several lawsuits over the past three seasons, previously reaching confidential settlements with 20 women over sexual misconduct lawsuits that saw him suspended for 11 NFL games in the 2022 season.
Last month it was revealed that he has been sued for over a million dollars by a new woman, who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in Texas four years ago. Watson ‘strongly’ denies the allegations.