10 Patriots Entering Their Final Season With New England

4. Tyrone Wheatley Jr., OT

Like wide receiver, the offensive line is another area of the roster the Patriots must improve at in 2025. It's already been made obvious that New England's lack of investment at this position is going to hurt the team this season, so fans should expect a major overhaul should this unit be one of the league's worst as anticipated.

Assuming that does turn out to be the case, Tyrone Wheatley Jr. is one player to move on from in order to free up roster space.

Wheatley's shown little promise since catching on in the NFL as an undrafted free agent. He's been cut by two teams (Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders) and traded by another (Cleveland Browns) while appearing in only two games in two seasons.

New England became the third franchise to release Wheatley in August, but he's currently on the IR list after reverting to the Pats. With one foot already out of the door, Wheatley's as good as gone.

5. Jaylinn Hawkins, S

Safety Jaylinn Hawkins has bounced around the league as well over the past year. He began the 2023 campaign with the Atlanta Falcons, who originally took him in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. But Atlanta decided to move six games into the 2023 season, leading to his arrival in Los Angeles as a Chargers waiver claim.

Hawkins played out the rest of the year in LA, but the results were far from impressive. Despite seeing plenty of run, including three starts in 10 appearances, Hawkins notched a meager one pass defended and 11 total tackles.

It's notable the Falcons opted to part ways with Hawkins on the heels of a two-interception, six-PD showing in 2022. That's likely because he was incredibly poor in coverage despite some highlight plays, registering a 106.4 passer rating as the primary defender and allowing a whopping 331 yards and four touchdowns.

With young safeties Marte Mapu and Dell Pettus waiting in the wings, Hawkins has easy replacements behind him if he's a liability in coverage again.