The New England Patriots are going young at quarterback in 2023.

The Patriots plan to release veteran backup quarterback Brian Hoyer before the start of the new NFL league year, a source told SiriusXM’s Adam Caplan.

The move will free up less than $300,000 since the majority of the two-year, $4 million contract Hoyer signed last offseason was guaranteed.

Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe remain at quarterback on the Patriots’ active roster. It’s likely New England will add a third quarterback before the offseason training period kicks off next month.

Hoyer spent three stints with the Patriots. He entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State in 2009 with the Patriots. After three seasons in New England, Hoyer went on to play with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers before returning to the Patriots in 2017 for two seasons. After spending 2019 with the Indianapolis Colts, Hoyer returned to the Patriots in 2020 for three more seasons.

Hoyer, who’s 16-24 in his career as a starter, missed most of last season after suffering a concussion in a Week 4 start against the Green Bay Packers.

The Patriots drafted Jones in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Zappe asserted himself well starting two games as a rookie after being selected in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

It’s not surprising that the Patriots will continue to role with Zappe as Jones’ top backup this season. There’s also a possibility that Zappe could push Jones to start in training camp and preseason this summer. Zappe played as well, if not better than Jones last season, albeit in a smaller sample size.

The Patriots made some headlines this week after meeting with Florida QB prospect Anthony Richardson at the NFL Scouting Combine. Richardson is expected to be selected early in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

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