New England Patriots 2019: 5 surprise veterans on the 53-man roster bubble

The New England Patriots are deep at a few key positions which means some veterans may not be a roster lock for 2019.

Somewhere overnight, the New England Patriots have put together a pretty deep roster going into the 2019 NFL season.

With a nice mix of young players and some veterans looking to revive their careers, Bill Belichick has created some healthy and competitive position battles to watch during both training camp and the preseason.

Some of positions to watch will be at tight end as the team looks for someone to somewhat replace Rob Gronkowski.  With Ben Watson serving a four-game suspension to start the season, that is a battle that has become even more important because the team is not just looking for one tight end to step up, but potentially two.

Then there is left tackle, where the team will once again need to find someone to step up to protect Tom Brady’s blindside.

The wide receiver position will be interesting as well as the team will be looking for playmakers beyond Julian Edelman and first-round pick N’Keal Harry.

On the defensive side of the ball, the New England Patriots are deep in the secondary, linebacker position and along the defensive line, which also will present some interesting roster battles.

In all, this puts Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots in a pretty good position.  There will be some tough decisions to make, but as Belichick will say, those decisions will be what’s best for the team.

With all that being said, here are five surprise veterans who could find themselves on the 53-man roster bubble.