After waiver claims and filling 16 of 17 Practice Squad players, the roster is nearly set for the New England Patriots for the Opening game.
These 5 moves were true:
Tavai makes the initial 53 and is put on IR after
Dugger makes the team because the team still has to pay him
Pettus makes the team but could be cut for a claim
Anfernee Jennings is either traded or kept on the team
This move was partially true:
Kendrick Bourne makes the team and is then put on IR. He was not put on IR which meant one of two things; either he is ready to play, or they are trying to trade him, which they can’t if he is on IR.
They tried to trade him and couldn’t find any takers. The Vikings or 49’ers were the prime targets. The Vikings re-acquired Adam Thielen, which wiped out those trade possibilities. Bourne has requested to be released. Another report stated that the Pats asked Bourne to take a pay cut, which might be the reason that he requested to be released. According to Miguel “Patscap” Benzan, cutting Bourne saved the team $5.3M on the cap. The 49ers are still rumored to be very interested in signing Bourne.
Patriots Claim Two on Waivers
They claimed QB Tommy “Cutlets” DeVito (NYG), and DB Charles Woods (LAR). Javon Baker was waived as the other move when they were awarded DeVito and Woods.
Taylor Kyles reported that Woods is a Special Teams player who specializes as Gunner and Jammer, taking positions on Special Teams, which was Javon Baker’s position. Last season for the Rams he played in 13 games and had 168 snaps on Special Teams (Kick-24, Kickoff Ret- 4, Punt-29, Punt Return-41 and FG/XP Block-33). I would expect that Baker, if he clears waivers, would be re-signed to the practice squad.
DeVito carved up the Patriots’ backups in the last Pre-Season game with 17 completions on 20 passes, 85% completion percentage, 198 yards, 3 TDs, zero sacks, and a QB rating of 145.7. Yeah, I want that player on my team! In his two-year Pro career, he has started 8 games and had a 65.3% completion percentage, 8 TDs to 3 Interceptions. I actually like him over Dobbs.
Keeping Kyle Dugger was a surprise to a lot of fans. Don’t be surprised if Dugger moves to LB, just like Marte Mapu, who actually looked pretty good at the position in the Giants’ Pre-Season finale. I wrote before the season that the Patriots should move both players to Linebacker.
Anfernee Jenning was rumored to be on the trading block, but I was impressed how hard he played against the Vikings well into the 2nd Half. He had three sacks in that game. He did not play against New York in the Pre-season finale due to a minor injury.
Free Agent Signings
Now we should look at Vested Veterans that can be signed as Free Agents that don’t have to go through waivers. Both FB Jakub Johnson and OT Trent Brown resigned with the Texans’ Practice Squad. Isaiah Simmons LB was cut, and he is a former 1st Round (#8) selection of the Green Bay Packers.
Corey Levin, a Guard / Center who played for Vrabel in Tennessee, was just released by the Titans. The 9-year veteran was on the Patriots Practice Squad for 2 days back in 2020. He has played for the Titans, the team that originally drafted him in 2017, for the last 4 seasons, but he has only had 4 starts for the Titans.
I can’t believe there were not any offensive lineman that were better than Vederian Lowe or Caedan Wallace available to put a waiver claim on. The roster is still in flux and should be for the next 48 hours.
Returned to Practice
Efton Chism, Anfernee Jennings and Jack Gibbens returned to practice today. Christian Gonzalez did not and that is now becoming a concern for his availability for week 1.
Layden Robinson on IR
Robinson was waived on Sunday with an Injury Designation. When a player is waived like that, and if they are not claimed, then they immediately revert to the IR. However, Robinson was in limbo for a few days but finally reappeared and was on the noon transaction report yesterday with a reserve/injured designation, meaning he’s been placed on IR.
Initial Practice Squad
CB Miles Battle
G Mehki Butler
G Jack Conley
CB Brandon Crossley
TE C.J. Dippre
RB Terrell Jennings
WR John Jiles
DE Truman Jones
C Alec Lindstrom
CB Kobee Minor
DT David Olajiga *
LB Cam Riley
DT Jahvaree Ritzie
TE Gee Scott Jr.
LB Bradyn Swinson
WR Jeremiah Webb
*_International Pathways Program Roster Exemption
The Patriots have one more spot on their Practice Squad because of the IPP Exemption for David Olajiga. That spot could be used for Javon Baker if he makes it through waivers today. The Practice Squad is fluent as the season goes on. If they add Baker, that would be 3 of the 16 positions being WRs. Same could be said for DBs.
A poster on X (Bret Judkins) made a comment “Is anyone at least a little surprised that the entire PS came from the Patriots 90-man roster after comments from staff about upgrading depth? Arguably, the NE 53-man roster is one of the thinnest. I expected the PS would have a lot of new faces, hoping to improve depth.” We all know that this team lacks depth, as evidenced by that abysmal performance against the Giants’ 2nd and 3rd team players in the final Pre-season game. It appears that Vrabel is showing some loyalty to the players that have worked in his program all year, by filling his Practice Squad from players that were on the 91-man camp roster.
History of Bad Drafts
Only Drake Maye and Caedan Wallace remain on the active 53-man roster from the 2024 draft. That is inexcusable, especially in light of that historically bad trade of what should have been Ladd McConkey and instead ended up being Ja’Lynn Polk (IR for the season) and Javon Baker who was waived today. Most GMs would have lost their jobs over that move.
Don’t worry, the news gets worse. The inability of the Patriots to draft well is what has led to two straight 4-win seasons. From 2021 – 2024 the Patriots only have 11 players on their current 53-man roster. That is 38 players drafted and only 11 players on the roster. The Patriots only have 1 player (Christian Gonzalez) on the Top 100 NFL Players list for both ESPN and the NFL Network.
Undrafted Free Agents Need to Sign With Patriots
In 21 of the last 22 seasons, at least one UDFA has made the initial 53-man roster. This year, we had two: WR Efton Chism and DE Elijah Ponder. I will also add that RB Lan Larrison and FB Brock Lampe were also trending towards making the roster. They were both placed on season-ending IR.
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About Mark Morse
Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.
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