A second NFL team tried to claim Rourke before Patriots grabbed him
Former CFL star Nathan Rourke is a wanted commodity around the NFL.
It turns out that when the quarterback hit NFL waivers, it wasn’t just the New England Patriots interested in acquiring his services.
The Houston Texans also put in a waiver claim, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. However, they lost out to the Patriots, who had the second spot on the priority list and therefore first dibs.
The Texans worked out former Jets QB Tim Boyle.
Houston attempted to claim QB Nathan Rourke yesterday.
Looks like they are trying to pad their QB depth right now.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) December 19, 2023
The fact that multiple teams were interested in his services bodes well for the quarterback’s future across the rest of this year and beyond. Rourke joins a Patriots team that is much weaker at quarterback than his former team, the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Victoria native will be wearing No. 13 with the Patriots, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss. Rourke has worn No. 12 in the past, but that is a sacred number in New England due to the previous owner: the legendary Tom Brady.
When asked about his team picking up a new quarterback, Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien was still clearly getting familiar with the Canadian player.
“I just found that out and just met him in the hallway,” the coach said this morning about yesterday’s transaction, per MassLive’s Mark Daniels.
Rourke has impressed at many levels and will ensure the coaching staff knows his name soon. He threw for 25 touchdowns in 10 games during the 2022 CFL season, earning the league’s Most Outstanding Canadian award. He also was great in this year’s NFL preseason, completing more than 65% of his passes, not throwing any interceptions, and pulling off this play below.
The Patriots simply can't afford to play Nathan Rourke if they want to lose the rest of their games and land the No. 1 pick pic.twitter.com/BasSRFdIqy
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandall) December 18, 2023
The Patriots have three games left this season, and Rourke will be available to play in all of them. He is currently behind Bailey Zappe and Mac Jones on the depth chart, but neither of those two quarterbacks has impressed so far this season, leaving an opening. While it will likely take Rourke some time to get acquainted with the new system, there’s a much more obvious pathway toward playing time with the Patriots than there was with the Jaguars.
The Patriots play their next game on Sunday against the Denver Broncos.
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