The New England Patriots have added another quarterback.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the franchise had signed Will Grier to their active roster. Grier had been on the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad prior to signing with New England.
Adam Schefter @AdamSchefterFormer Cowboys' QB Will Grier is signing to the Patriots active roster, per source.
Schefter added context to the signing in regard to the Bengals, as Grier can now not be elevated to the team's active roster if quarterback Joe Burrow is declared "out" for Week 3. Burrow is considered "day-to-day" after aggravating his calf injury that had him miss most of the preseason. Jake Browning is the only other quarterback on the team's roster.
This is the Patriots second stab at adding a quarterback after they picked up Matt Corral ahead of the season. That experiment has been clunky, with Corral missing time with a "personal matter" and being cut and nearly brought back to the practice squad before the Patriots decided against it.
Instead the team will bring in the 28-year-old Grier to join Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham. Grier has played in two regular season games, going 0-2 with zero touchdowns and four interceptions.
That effort came in 2019, but the intrigue with Grier comes with what he showed he could do just a few weeks ago. In the Dallas Cowboys final preseason game, Grier went 29-35 for 305 yards and two touchdowns in the air while also adding 53 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
This performance likely led to the Bengals taking a flier on him on their practice squad after Grier was cut by the Cowboys and now the Patriots will look to give him a real shot to earn a backup role behind Jones.
The Patriots are 0-2 to start the season and will look to right the ship with a victory over the Zach Wilson-led New York Jets. The Patriots have won 14 straight games against the Jets, with the most recent Jets win coming in 2015.
