Patriots Cut Brandon LaFell, Scott Chandler

In what comes as a surprising move, the New England Patriots cut wide receiver Brandon LaFell and tight end Scott Chandler on Tuesday.

After missing the first five games of 2016, LaFell was expected to be a boost to the offense. Instead, he picked up a case of the “drops” and never escaped it. Despite Tom Brady doing his best to feed LaFell the ball, the veteran receiver did not answer the call. He finished the season with 515 yards on 37 catches. He did not record a touchdown.

In his first and only season in New England, Chandler was signed to take some pressure off of Rob Gronkowski. Known as a “Patriot killer,” Chandler did not live up to expectations for the Patriots. He caught just 23 passes for 259 yards. Chandler was only targeted 42 times — a career low. It’s fair to say Brady never quite got into a rhythm with the veteran tight end.

Are these surprising moves? Musket Fire’s Cyrus Geller doesn’t think so:

"I certainly wouldn’t classify these moves as surprising, given Chandler’s lack of production, and LaFell’s overall inconsistent season, but I really didn’t think the Pats would part ways with these two, particularly LaFell. I know he had a rough 2015 season, but it felt like he would honestly be the best value at receiver out there."

LaFell, to me, is a bit of a surprise. Sure, he was pretty bad last season. He had trouble catching everything. I got into arguments with my best friend over if LaFell should be benched. But I really believed, at least at the beginning, he was just a bit timid out of the gate after his foot injury. The injury effected his mind and his mind effected his hands. But that wasn’t the case. I’ll admit: I was wrong. He never quite figured it out.

The other aspect is that Brady really seemed to trust him. Maybe not toward the end of the season, but Brady got comfortable with LaFell over his two years in New England. He was a sturdy target until his case of the drops became a serious illness. I would bet most of the money in my savings account ($17!) that Brady was the first person to call/text/tweet LaFell after the news.

Apparently it wasn’t worth trying to fix for the Patriots. Between saving some money and, potentially, drafting a wide receiver to help fill the hole, the Patriots decided they didn’t need LaFell.

Next: The Pats should trade Jimmy G.

As far as Chandler goes? We hardly knew ye. I was really excited when they signed him. Chandler is a No. 1 tight end for most teams in the league but, unlike LaFell, Brady never got into a rhythm with Chandler. It never seemed in sync. Chandler has always had good hands, but Brady just didn’t want to throw him the ball. Maybe because of Rob Gronkowski? It’s hard to throw to Scott Chandler when you have the best tight end in the history of football on the other side of the field.

So, how do the Patriots fill the holes? Will Tim Wright come back? Do the Patriots draft a wide receiver and/or a tight end?