The Patriots should not be finished amending their roster after Tuesday’s roster cuts and Wednesday’s waiver claims and practice squad signings.
They should continue to scour the waiver wire for potential post-cutdown additions and keep calling teams about trades. Most trades occur before roster cuts, but there are some high-profile names still available. At the very least, the Patriots should be adding players to their practice squad who didn’t spend the summer in Foxboro. So far, 13 of the 17 practice squad players spent training camp with the Patriots.
Since cuts, the Patriots claimed quarterback Tommy DeVito (Giants) and slot cornerback Charles Woods (Rams).
Here are five more spots they try to address with an outside addition.
Tight end/fullback
Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper are a great veteran 1-2 punch. The Patriots have Jack Westover as their third tight end. Westover brings positional versatility and looked dependable as a fullback in the preseason. But he’s a bit of a tweener at tight end. He wasn’t overly productive as a pass-catcher this summer, and he’s a little undersized to be a people mover as a blocker at tight end or fullback. He’s good depth either on the 53-man roster or practice squad, but the Patriots should be looking for a tight end in the mold of a Matthew Mulligan or Michael Williams or Dwayne Allen who can really move some bodies around in the run game.
Fullbacks are tougher to find, since most college teams don’t use them. The Patriots might need to get creative by finding a college linebacker or undersized defensive tackle to groom on the practice squad.
Rookie tight ends CJ Dippre and Gee Scott Jr. are both pretty similar to Westover. They bring some potential, but they lacked true standout moments this summer, and the Patriots should be looking to upgrade at those spots where players didn’t necessarily decisively win a role.
Offensive tackle
The starters are set with Will Campbell and Morgan Moses. Rookie Marcus Bryant seems primed to be the swing tackle. He added the flexibility to play right tackle this summer. Beyond that, the Patriots still have Vederian Lowe on their active roster and Jack Conley on their practice squad.
Look, teams are cutting good tackles right now. The players that teams can pick up in late August are Lowe and previous late-summer additions like Demontrey Jacobs and Tyrone Wheatley Jr. But it wouldn’t hurt to rifle through some tackles and see if any of them can stick and provide better depth on the practice squad.
The Patriots are hoping they found a steal in Bryant as a seventh-round pick. Perhaps he can one day be Moses’ replacement.
Guard
The Patriots gave Ben Brown, Cole Strange, Tyrese Robinson, Sidy Sow, Layden Robinson, Mehki Butler and Caedan Wallace a ton of reps this summer at guard, and the only guy who truly proved himself and earned a spot was Brown. It felt like Wallace was kept around by default over the rest of the guards, and it seems telling that the team didn’t even give him a shot to play tackle at all in training camp and preseason.
So, guard feels like another spot where the Patriots could either keep scouring the waiver wire or taking a flier on a player on the practice squad. Butler, who never saw significant snaps on even the second-team unit, was the only guard signed to the practice squad. He has some potential, but if the Patriots truly saw real potential there, then he would have been mixed in more with Brown, Strange, Sow and Wallace.
Linebacker
The Patriots are looking for a different type of linebacker than other teams around the NFL. They value athleticism, smarts and physicality more than size. The current group is just Robert Spillane, Christian Elliss, Jack Gibbens and Marte Mapu, with Jahlani Tavai on injured reserve for at least the first four weeks of the season. Mark Robinson is a newly signed backup on the practice squad. He has 38 games of experience with the Steelers.
We’ll see if Robinson can earn playing time from the practice squad once he gets his feet wet with the Patriots.
Otherwise, defensive coordinator Terrell Williams spent last season with the Lions, and inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr was with the Giants last season. Perhaps a player recently cut from one of those squads could fill a depth need in New England.
Defensive tackle
It seemed like the Patriots wanted to find a sixth defensive tackle to add to their roster. Isaiah Iton was taking on first-team reps before injuring his hip against the Vikings, and then the Patriots signed veteran defensive tackle Kyle Peko.
The Patriots have Milton Williams, Christian Barmore, Khyiris Tonga, Joshua Farmer and Jeremiah Pharms Jr. on their active roster and Cory Durden, Fabian Lovett, Jahvaree Ritzie and the international player pathway program’s David Olajiga on the practice squad. Ritzie and Olajiga had quiet summers, and Durden and Lovett were just signed on Thursday. Even Farmer didn’t make a major impact as a fourth-round pick.
We’ll see if Durden and Lovett can earn playing time with scout-team reps early this season. Durden has eight games of NFL experience, while Lovett spent last season on the Chiefs’ practice squad.
Doug Kyed wrote this piece for the Boston Herald.
