The defending champs are continuing to finetune their roster following Tuesday's cuts.
Former Patriots starting quaterback Bailey Zappe has a deal in place to sign with the Chiefs' practice squad, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport on Wednesday.
Kansas City didn't stop at adding Zappe, either. The Chiefs are signing veteran running back Samaje Perine, NFL Network Insiders Mike Garafolo and Rapoport later reported.
Zappe has eight starts under his belt in his two-year NFL career, which began with the former Western Kentucky Hilltopper arriving in 2022 as an intriguing option behind Mac Jones. Injuries initially forced Zappe into action in Week 4, leading to Zappe making his first two career starts in Weeks 5 and 6 of the 2022 season, and eventually, Bill Belichick grew tired of Jones' inconsistency, replacing him with Zappe in a Week 7 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Though he did not see any more action during his rookie season, those four games were enough to earn Zappe the backup job behind Jones entering 2023. Zappe then found himself starting for New England for most of the back half of the doomed campaign, finishing with a 2-4 mark as a starter.
With a new regime taking over in 2024, the Patriots revamped their quarterbacks room, drafting North Carolina product Drake Maye with the third overall pick and Tennessee passer Joe Milton in the sixth round, and adding veteran Jacoby Brissett via free agency. Those changes prompted the Patriots to waive Zappe on Tuesday's deadline to trim rosters to 53, freeing him to head elsewhere.
Zappe joins a Chiefs roster that has zero questions at the position, thanks to the presence of all-world talent Patrick Mahomes. Veteran Carson Wentz stands as Mahomes' backup, leaving Zappe as a practice squad quarterback whom Kansas City won't need to suit up unless there's an emergency situation.
It's not the best situation for an aspiring quarterback, but after two tumultuous years in New England, Zappe is headed to one of the NFL's most stable and successful organizations in the last decade.
Perine saw a total of 21 snaps in the preseason while playing for Denver, where he spent the 2023 season as a backup to Javonte Williams. He's only received 100-plus carries once in his career -- his rookie season of 2017, spent with Washington -- and has otherwise existed as a spell back for Washington, Cincinnati, Miami and Denver. He'll take on a similar role in Kansas City, where he'll slot in behind Isiah Pacheco, Carson Steele, and as of now, Clyde Edwards-Helaire.