3 Patriots Who've Locked Up a Roster Spot Before Preseason Finale

2. Tyquan Thornton, wide receiver

The New England Patriots really needed a slew of good news at the wide receiver position during the 2024 offseason, and they've certainly gotten it.

As far as I'm concerned, the decision to cut JuJu Smith-Schuster is addition by subtraction. But then you start to factor in that the Patriots might have some interesting young players at the position, and you're really cooking. The Patriots landed Ja'Lynn Polk in the 2nd round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and I loved what they did in terms of the process of drafting Drake Maye and immediately getting him a weapon.

They followed up that pick by taking UCF star Javon Baker in the fourth round, and he already looks like he's going to be a steal for this team.

One of the bigger question marks at receiver this offseason was former second-round pick Tyquan Thornton, a guy who has been trending toward NFL Draft "bust" status after his first two years in the league. Thornton has put together a rather strong offseason and appears to have gone from the roster bubble to locking up a roster position with just one game left in the preseason.

Now, could the Patriots be trying to speak well of Thornton publicly in order to boost his trade value? Potentially, but with a young quarterback of the future, having as many weapons as possible is essential. Thornton is more valuable to the Patriots if he's developing and progressing than another late-round pick in the NFL Draft war chest.

After seeing the emergence of DeMario Douglas last year, having another in-house draft pick finally turn up and show that talent and potential are actually going to converge with on-field production would be a gift from the football gods.

The Patriots have clearly been encouraged by Thornton's progress this offseason and he's in line to make a bigger impact than anticipated.