FOXBORO — The Patriots are set to enter the 2025 season with three undrafted rookies on their 53-man roster.
Two of them (wide receiver Efton Chism and linebacker Elijah Ponder) impressed the Patriots’ evaluators with strong showings during training camp and the preseason. The third just got here last week.
New England claimed defensive tackle Eric Gregory off waivers last Friday after he made the Bengals’ initial 53-man roster but was subsequently cut. So, after spending the entire spring and summer with Cincinnati, the 24-year-old Arkansas product now could make his official NFL debut this Sunday with a brand-new team.
“For me, it was kind of odd,” Gregory said before Wednesday’s practice, his second as a Patriot. “It’s a whole situation, how everything happened. And just especially being a rookie doing it, going to a new team, I don’t really know what to expect. But the transition’s been good. Everybody here welcomed me with open arms, so I’m getting well adjusted, for sure.”
The Patriots did work on Gregory before the 2025 NFL Draft, meeting with him at the scouting combine and viewing him as a possible late-round target. He wound up signing with the Bengals as a UDFA and said he “learned a lot about ball and about myself” during his few months in Cincy.
Gregory also became a favorite among Bengals fans, judging by the [strong social media reaction](https://twitter.com/DougKyed/status/1961529824452706395) his waiver claim elicited. Cincinnati waived him after cutdown day to make room on its roster for offensive lineman Dalton Risner. The team reportedly hoped to [re-sign Gregory to its practice squad](https://atozsports.com/nfl/cincinnati-bengals-news/eric-gregory-claimed-patriots-bengals-practice-squad-roster-moves/), but the Patriots foiled that plan.
“I think you’re always looking for young defensive linemen and guys with good size and length and production,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said Monday. “(He’s) somebody that we had targeted through the draft process as it got towards the back end of the draft and whether he was going to be drafted or not, and I think just the personnel department focusing on some of those players at cutdown day and having a good list and some of the players that we were able to add and really excited about working with here.”
Listed at 6-foot-3, 319 pounds, Gregory said he primarily played an attacking, one-gap style at Arkansas — a similar philosophy to what the Patriots now run under first-year defensive coordinator Terrell Williams. His arrival added another body to a D-tackle group that also features Milton Williams, Christian Barmore, Khyris Tonga, Jeremiah Pharms and fourth-round rookie Joshua Farmer.
Despite his whirlwind week, Gregory said he’s “feeling great” ahead of Sunday’s season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium.
“Hopefully, I get an opportunity,” he said. “Whenever it comes, I’ll be ready for it.”
Originally Published: September 3, 2025 at 2:52 PM EDT