It’s a great day to be a former Ole Miss QB: Matt Corral picked up by Patriots; Chad Kelly signs 3-year extension with Argos
Today was a good day for former Ole Miss quarterbacks. After having been waived by Carolina one day after making the Panthers’ 53-man roster, Matt Corral was picked up Thursday by the New England Patriots. On the same day, the Toronto Argonauts announced they have signed Chad Kelly to a three-year extension.
Corral and Kelly are two of Ole Miss’ top former quarterbacks, as well as two of the toughest, most-competitive players to wear the red and blue in Oxford.
Matt Corral
The addition of Corral now gives New England two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. The Patriots, unhappy with what they saw at quarterback in the preseason, released quarterbacks Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham, leaving them without a second quarterback on the active roster behind Mac Jones. They signed Zappe and Cunningham to the practice squad but that still didn’t solve the issue.
NFL rules allow teams to elevate a practice squad player to the gameday roster up to three times in a season, with that player only allowed to dress for a fourth game if he is officially promoted to the 53.
The 24-year-old Corral offers more athleticism and rushing ability than Zappe.
Corral was waived by Carolina on Wednesday after just one season spent with the team. The Panthers spent a third-round pick on the former Rebel standout in the 2022 draft, but he never saw any regular-season action due to a season-ending Lisfranc injury suffered in a preseason game his rookie season.
Patriots claim QB Matt Corral off waivers to back up Mac Jones. (via @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/AeCXCTDvQg
— NFL (@NFL) August 31, 2023
Corral completed 60 percent of his passes in the preseason for the Carolina for 249 yards with an interception. He also tallied 47 yards on four carries.
Matt Corral’s got some wheels 👀 pic.twitter.com/EX8wlJsRlz
— PGS NEST (@NestPgs) August 31, 2023
Chad Kelly
The Toronto Argonauts announced Thursday that quarterback Chad Kelly has signed a three-year contract extension with the team. He becomes the highest-paid player in CFL with three-year contract worth $1.865 million.
Kelly is setting the CFL on fire in his first year as a full-time starter. He is having a Most Outstanding Player kind of season, leading Toronto to an 8-1 record while leading the CFL with six rushing touchdowns, QB rating (118.7), touchdown-to-interception ration (2.29), percentage of drives that result in touchdowns (26.5) and percentage of completed passes over 20 yards (53.2).
Jake Maier: “Bet you can’t beat that deep shot!”
Chad Kelly: “Hold my Gatorade…”#CFL #Argos #PullTogether
pic.twitter.com/4OBfuVRGfn— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) August 26, 2023
Kelly has completed 149-of-213 passes (70 per cent, second best in CFL) for 2,402 yards (fourth) and 16 passing touchdowns (third) in 2023. The Kelly-led Argos offense is averaging 29.2 offensive points/game and 380.9 yards of offense/game, both second in the CFL.
Chad Kelly this season:
🔵 4th in passing yards
🔵 3rd in passing TDs
🔵 2nd in completion %
🔵 1st in QB rating
🔵 T1 in rushing TDs
🔵 Argos on top of CFL East with 8-1 record pic.twitter.com/5kTXPkDIRB— theScore (@theScore) August 31, 2023
“I couldn’t be happier to sign this extension and proudly represent the historic Double Blue,” said Kelly.
“Today marks not only a contract extension, but an extension of my commitment to the amazing city of Toronto, my teammates, coaches, front office and MLSE. I want to thank each one of you for your unwavering support over the last two years, and I look forward to leading this team to future Grey Cups. I also want to thank the Lord for providing me daily strength to do what I do best, my family for always being there for me throughout this process and the team around me for making this all come together.”
Former Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly on his CFL contract extension
Despite spending last season in mostly a backup role, Kelly became the biggest story of the 109th Grey Cup after Argos’ starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson suffered a dislocated thumb in the fourth quarter. Kelly came in and completed 4-of-6 passes for 43 yards in relief and set up the game-winning touchdown with a memorable 20-yard scramble on second-and-15 to help upset the two-time defending champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-23.
Congratulations to these former Ole Miss QBs!
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
