FOXBORO – Bailey Zappe will continue his NFL career outside of New England after signing to the Chiefs’ practice squad on Wednesday.

Jerod Mayo hopes things work out well for the third-year quarterback in Kansas City.

In his first news conference after cutdown day, the Patriots head coach explained his decision to release Zappe and praised the 25-year-old for his professionalism.

“One thing I’ll say about Zappe (is) he has been the ultimate professional,” Mayo said Wednesday. “Even before I took this role, we’ve had a good relationship, and I’m always going to root for a guy like Zappe. (He) always had a great attitude even though things weren’t probably ideal for him personally.

“In saying that, we think that these three quarterbacks have a chance to be better than what Zappe displayed.”

After two years of quarterback drama and dysfunction involving Mac Jones and Zappe, the Patriots will enter the 2024 season with a completely new QB room: veteran Jacoby Brissett, first-round rookie Drake Maye and sixth-round rookie Joe Milton III. Zappe’s release was not a surprise, as he repped behind Milton for the final few weeks of training camp and played two late series over the final two preseason games.

Drafted in the fourth round in 2022, Zappe started eight games over his two seasons in Foxboro — including the final six in 2023 — and appeared in six others. He completed 63.2% of his passes and threw for 2,053 yards and 11 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. The Patriots went 4-4 in games he started.

Zappe now joins the two-time defending champion Chiefs and will have a chance to develop behind superstar signal-caller Patrick Mahomes. KC also has Carson Wentz on its 53-man roster as Mahomes’ primary backup.

Mayo declined to reveal who will start at QB for New England, saying he’d announce that decision after informing the team on Thursday. The Patriots open the regular season Sunday, Sept. 8 at Cincinnati.