Patriots release QB Cody Kessler, does it mean anything?

The Patriots released Cody Kessler today, leaving themselves with just Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer in the quarterback room.

The move, first reported by Ian Rapoport, is a mild surprise.

They don't need the roster space. They now have 66 players under contract and are allowed a maximum of 90, which usually fills out after the draft.

With the draft still three weeks away and facilities locked up, there are no offseason programs where, say, the other two quarterbacks need to take all the reps in practice.

Could the Patriots have done Kessler a solid by releasing him now to give him a chance at signing with another team before the draft? Sure, maybe.

There isn't much of a salary-cap benefit to the move. Kessler was making $935,000, but he's going to need to be replaced in the Top 51 with a salary that counts $675,000 so the net is $260,000. That leaves the Patriots with just over a million in cap space at the moment, so effectively now they could sign a free agent with four to six years service time and be under the cap.

So what's the deal?

For one thing, Kessler was really only here because Tom Brady was so beaten up last season that someone was needed to take the scout team reps.

"You know, it’s hard to practice three quarterbacks, and there have been a couple examples where Tom hasn’t been able to do a lot this year," Belichick said in December. "So, that’s given Stid an opportunity to go with the first group, and run our plays and run our offense, and that’s been good for him. That’s given Cody an opportunity to run more of the scout-team plays because Jarrett’s not taking those. So, again, quarterbacks are always looking for more work. So, they’ve taken advantage of it and I think it’s helped. I mean, you don’t always want to do it that way. Sometimes it’s best to do things that way, and then that’s good for everybody. But, you know, we want everybody out there as healthy as they can be. So, that’s ultimately the goal, but it’s not always that way. Certainly that’s a better scenario than having just two quarterbacks, so that then one guy has to take everything. Not that he can’t take it, it’s the National Football League, but mentally going from a defensive period to an offensive period, to a defensive period to an offensive period – not really the best – it’s not as conducive to high-level execution in either one. But, sometimes that’s what it is and so you have to adjust."

With Brady gone, the Patriots won't need more than a camp arm, whenever camp starts.

I think it's just about Kessler not having a shot to compete, and the Patriots will add a QB at some point — in the draft, undrafted free agency, and regular free agency.

Sure, Cam Newton and Jameis Winston are still out there. Andy Dalton and Jacoby Brissett could be available via trade. But to make any of those moves, the Patriots would have to make a substantial cap move (trading/extending Joe Thuney, extending Stephon Gilmore) to do anything. So something would need to happen before a big move.