The New England Patriots released 26 players on Saturday. Some talented players will no longer be wearing a Patriots jersey.
Sadly not everyone can play for the New England Patriots. The Patriots now have their roster trimmed down to 53 players and are ready to start the regular season.
Now there are definitely some players you are happy to see leave New England. I’m pumped to see the struggling Mike Gillislee take a hike, and the Cyrus Jones experiment has finally come to a close.
Now there are some surprising cuts that I hope will be back on the practice squad. Brandon Bolden is a special teams phenom, which made his cut surprising, but hopefully, he will clear waivers. Also, I hope to see Ralph Webb back.
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So without further ado here are 3 surprising cuts from the roster cutdown.
Danny Etling
I don’t know why Danny Etling was released.
Etling showed some promise in his first preseason. Especially in week 4 when he played the whole game. He had an amazing 80+ yard run and definitely showed that he has the foundational skills to be a quality quarterback.
I’m just so sick of Brian Hoyer. The Patriots need to move on from the aging quarterback. He clearly isn’t going to take over for Tom Brady. God forbid the G.O.A.T. got injured, I don’t t have too much confidence in Hoyer. Etling doesn’t seem to be a major dropoff in talent.
Hopefully, Etling will clear waivers and be back on the practice squad when the regular season starts.
Marquis Flowers
Even though Dont’a Hightower is healthy this season, the Patriots aren’t that deep at linebacker. On Saturday they lost a player who got a ton of playing time last season. I was rather shocked to see that Marquis Flowers had been cut.
Last season Flowers played in 16 games and had 3.5 sacks and 23 tackles. He is an athletic guy who can definitely help out stopping the run.
The Patriots may have Elandon Roberts, but I expected Flowers to be competing for the 2nd or 3rd spot on the depth chart.
When Hightower was lost for the season, Flowers was forced into an increased role. He definitely wasn’t disappointing. Now if Hightower or Roberts gets injured, the Patriots are screwed.
I don’t know if Flowers will ever find his way back to New England, but all you can do is wish him well (unless he goes to the NY Jets).
Riley McCarron
Riley McCarron is another surprising cut due to the Patriots lack of depth at wide receiver. Tom Brady will not have a lot of targets to throw to.
On Saturday the Patriots released McCarron and Braxton Berrios was placed on injured reserve. Now for the first 4 weeks of the season, the Patriots will have to rely on Chris Hogan, Cordarrelle Patterson, Phillip Dorsett, Jacob Hollister and even Matthew Slater. After that things get better with Edelman back, but it will definitely be a challenging season for Tom Brady.
McCarron seemed to be a perfect replacement for Julian Edelman. He is a quality slot receiver and could help out in the kick return game.
The Patriots are still slated to have a good season. I still believe that they will be at the top of the AFC, but things definitely won’t be easy.
Some of these cuts could still make a difference on game day. Hopefully, they won’t come back to the bite the Patriots.