New England Patriots: 5 veterans on the early 55-man roster bubble

The New England Patriots will have a few interesting roster position battles going into training camp, which will have these 5 players looking over their shoulder.

For the first time in two decades, the quarterback position will be a roster position battle to watch for the New England Patriots going into the 2020 NFL season.

With Tom Brady taking his talents to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Patriots will have a major question mark to solve.  Will it be second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham, journeyman veteran Brian Hoyer or someone else under center?

Definitely a major storyline going into camp, but that is not the only roster battle to watch.

There are other position battles that are wide open due to other key departures.  Some of those battles could have some veterans looking over their shoulder just to make the 55-man roster.

Of course, when it comes to Bill Belichick and his roster building skills, one never knows what direction he will go at any position.  Player salary and age sometimes factors into his decisions.

Many times, those are actually the factors with surprise cuts prior to a season.  We all remember the Lawyer Milloy release prior to the 2003 season and the shocking trade of Logan Mankins prior to the 2014 NFL season, both were influenced by contract negotiations.

Besides offensive lineman Joe Thuney and potentially a player like Dont’a Hightower not restructuring his contract, not many players fall under that category.  Therefore, any surprise cuts will be based on performance.

So, in taking a look at the roster as currently constructed, here are five veteran players on the early roster bubble for the New England Patriots prior to 2020 training camp activities.