Nathan Rourke was waived by the New York Giants on Sunday and has since gone through NFL waivers without a team placing a claim on him. Now the question arises of what is next for the once CFL star as he is now a free agent. Per TSN’s Dave Naylor Rourke will workout for the Atlanta Falcons on Wednesday who had previously lost a waiver claim on him in March.
Nathan Rourke is flying to Atlanta Tuesday for a Wednesday workout with the @AtlantaFalcons. Atlanta put in a waiver claim for him back in the spring but lost-out to the @Giants. #NFL
Nathan Rourke joined the New York Giants via waivers following being waived by the New England Patriots. Rourke had originally entered the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars ahead of the 2023 season after an impressive campaign with the BC Lions. He remained with Jacksonville until he was waived in mid-December of 2023 and was acquired by the New England Patriots who waived him this past May.
Rourke was highly impressive in the 2023 preseason as he completed 23 of his 35 passes (65.7%) for 348 yards and a touchdown. His 107.8 quarterback rating was 2nd among NFL rookies behind only Aidan O’Connell who had a 108.4 rating and far ahead of third place Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s 98.3 and fourth place Bryce Young’s 87.
Despite his success when given an opportunity, there have now been 3 NFL teams who have let him go since he joined the NFL ahead of the 2023 season. We have yet to see him throw a pass in the NFL regular season but he looked spectacular in the preseason.
Prior to joining the NFL, Rourke played his first season as a starter in the CFL in 2022 which saw him set a record for highest completion percentage in a single season at 78.7%. He missed some time due to injury but over his 10 starts, he completed 255 of his 324 passes for 3,349 yards and 25 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. He added 621 passing yards and 3 touchdowns with 2 interceptions in BC’s 2 playoff games in 2022.
Rourke played his college ball for the Ohio Bobcats where he played in 38 games with 36 starts. He completed 58.7% of his passes with the program for 7,740 yards with 60 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He finished as the 2nd most in passing yards and in passing touchdowns in the program’s history although his younger brother Kurist Rourke has since surpassed him in passing yards.
What’s Next?
The plan remains the same for Nathan Rourke of following his dream to make it in the NFL and stick there. As mentioned he will have a workout for the Atlanta Falcons on Wednesday. With Kirk Cousins recently signing a 4-year deal in Atlanta and drafting Michael Penix Jr. in the first round it seems unlikely Rourke would have any chance of winning a QB2 position in the organization.
There are some teams that come to mind in which he may potentially be an upgrade in the QB2 spot such as New Orleans (Jake Haener), Green Bay (Sean Clifford), and Tampa Bay (Kyle Trask). NFL teams with concerns in pass protection would also do well to look at bringing him in given his ability to escape pressure and rollout to extend plays.
The Detroit Lions would be an interesting landing spot given the recent signing of DE Mathieu Betts who also played recently for the BC Lions. Another BC connection in Detroit is OT Giovanni Manu who was drafted by Detroit out of the University of BC in the 4th round this past NFL Draft.
While CFL fans of certain fanbases are salivating at the idea of potentially seeing their favorite team bring in Rourke to their team, it might not be something we see this year or next year, at least not at first. If Rourke is fully committed to kicking the tires to explore an NFL opportunity we might see him in the UFL before the CFL if he is not on an NLF roster in 2025. However, I don’t see this happening without a stipulation that would allow him to join the CFL in 2025 following the UFL season in the event his play does not drum up NFL interest.
Jonathan Clink joined CFL News Hub in early April of 2023. His primary responsibilities are covering the BC Lions and Montreal Alouettes.
He self awarded himself the CFL Rookie Journalist of the Year in 2023 following the 2023 CFL season. He also proclaims himself to be a "really cool guy". He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and lived a large portion of his childhood in Northwest Ontario. He currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan and misses being being able to have 4 months of skating every winter.
Clink has written over 240 articles for CFL News Hub. He was the publication's boots on the ground at the 2023 Grey Cup in Hamilton.
Clink has always had an obsession for sport and has a background in other sports as well having played hockey all his life and soccer, basketball, and lacrosse in high school. As a young child he used to log his hockey statistics after every game which is either an indication that he was destined for the role or perhaps and indication that he is rather strange.
