The New England Patriots had an exciting QB/WR prospect last season in the form of Malik Cunningham. But after letting him slip away, he’s shown some promising progress with the Baltimore Ravens.
Earlier this month, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh gave an update on Cunningham’s development after fully switching from quarterback to wide receiver in Baltimore.
“Malik has looked good at wide receiver. He’s shown a lot of speed, a lot of quickness. (He’s) kind of a natural at the position,” Harbaugh said. “And I’ve seen that he understands the game from the perspective of the quarterback, so routes and coverage and timing and things like that have been excellent.”
A former quarterback at Louisville, Cunningham landed with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent last season and generated some buzz during the preseason.
However, the Ravens poached the promising prospect in December, signing him off New England’s practice squad.
The athletic quarterback initially spent time at receiver during camp. But during preseason games, Cunningham took some snaps at quarterback and provided an exciting spark on offense.
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Cunningham seemed like he was worth keeping as a prospect. But Bill Belichick’s handling of him was strange.
On a Patriots offense that provided little in terms of excitement, Cunningham appeared to be a rare spark. So it was a surprise when the Patriots cut him — twice — before bringing him back on the practice squad.
In the meantime, Cunningham didn’t really get a shot on the field. For the few games he was on the active roster, Cunningham made one brief appearance at quarterback on a gadget play against the Las Vegas Raiders. Besides that, New England never let the kid show what he could do.
It was a head-scratching approach for a team that boasted one of the worst offenses in the league, especially when it came to the quarterback and receiver positions.
Even the normally stoic Patriots locker room had an eye-opening reaction to Cunningham’s departure, with former New England tackle Trent Brown writing at the time, “Go flourish where your talent is respected.”
Now with Baltimore, it appears that Cunningham is showing early signs of doing just that.
