Browns Announce QB Bailey Zappe As Week 18 Starter

According to Tom Withers, the Browns will start QB Bailey Zappe in Week 18 against the Ravens.

It’s worth noting that Cleveland HC Kevin Stefanski said earlier today that both Zappe and QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson will get time in Week 18, per Withers. 

Zappe, 25, was selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft by the Patriots out of Western Kentucky. He agreed to a four-year, $4.3 million contract with New England.

He was in the second year of that deal when New England waived him coming out of the preseason. They signed him to their practice squad soon after, however, and he was later promoted back to the active roster. 

The Patriots cut him loose at the end of training camp and he caught on with the Chiefs’ practice squad. Cleveland signed Zappe off Kansas City’s practice squad in October but waived him in December before re-signing him to the active roster.

In 2023, Zappe appeared in 10 games for the Patriots with six starts and completed 59.9 percent of his pass attempts for 1,272 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions.