Team is expected to take a passer with the No. 3 selection in the upcoming NFL Draft and the Boston Herald is reporting that they could chase a quarterback in free agency when it opens next week
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The New England Patriots are apparently about to trade one of their quarterbacks but fans of former B.C. Lions pivot Nathan Rourke shouldn’t get too excited for him just yet.
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Various league sources have the Patriots moving Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Boston Herald, for one, has New England receiving a sixth-round draft pick in return. The trade cannot be confirmed until the league officially begins its new season on Wednesday.
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League sources also had Rourke, 25, re-signing with New England earlier this month as an exclusive rights free agent. New England claimed him off waivers in December from Jacksonville. The Jaguars had signed Rourke as a free agent in January 2023, coming off his strong showing with the Lions in 2022.
Pundits are expecting the Patriots, who are coming off a 4-13 campaign, to draft a quarterback with the No. 3 overall selection in the NFL Draft on April 25, and Herald was pledging that they’ll also add a passer in free agency, which opens Wednesday.
The Herald referred to Rourke as a “journeyman backup,” in its story about the Jones’ trade.
Rourke did wind up on the active rosters of both Jacksonville and New England but never got a snap. He received all sorts of attention for a highlight-reel play in exhibition for the Jaguars against the Dallas Cowboys. He avoided a cavalcade of tacklers before firing off a touchdown pass with a Dallas defender wrapped around his waist.
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Bailey Zappe, who finished the season as New England’s starter, remains on the roster as well. Rourke was elevated passed Jones to No. 2 on the Patriots’ depth chart for the season finale but he didn’t get off the bench in 17-3 loss to the New York Jets on Jan. 7. Zappe finished 12-of-30 for 88 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Rourke, who was born in Victoria and grew up in Oakville, Ont., had led the B.C. Lions to an 8-1 start in 2022 when it was announced that he had suffered a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot in a 28-10 win in Saskatchewan on Aug. 19 and that it would require surgery that would put him on the shelf for several weeks.
He led the CFL in passing yardage (3,281) and touchdown passes (25) at the time and had been named one of the league’s top three performers in six of those nine weeks. He came back for the regular season finale on Oct. 28, and guided the Lions to a win over the Calgary Stampeders in the West semifinals before they fell to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West final.
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Even with missing all that time, Rourke was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian for the season, becoming the first quarterback to take the honour since Gerry Dattilio of the Montreal Alouettes in 1980.
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