Patriots Cut Another Player After Wrapping Up Minicamp

OTAs and mandatory minicamp are officially in the books for the New England Patriots, but that isn’t stopping them from making roster moves ahead of training camp next month. 

The Patriots made a small move on defense last week, signing linebacker Steele Chambers and waiving linebacker Jay Person. The former Ohio State linebacker will give the Patriots depth as they prepare for training camp.

However, to kick off this week, the Patriots have made another roster move, but they didn’t fill the spot with another player. Evan Lazar of Patriots.com reported that New England released rookie free agent guard Ryan Johnson.

The Patriots didn’t fill his spot on the 90-man roster, given the team roster flexibility heading into training camp.

The 23-year-old offensive lineman was signed last month after spending his collegiate career at Youngstown State and Duquesne. Johnson played guard and tackle in college, which included 13 starts lining up guard at Youngstown State last season.

With Johnson not on the 90-man roster anymore, the Patriots only have two rookie free-agent offensive linemen in Charles Turner III and Zuri Henry. Turner and Henry have an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster, but maybe they can do enough in training camp and preseason to get a spot on the practice squad.

Finally, as for Johnson, it remains to be seen if another team picks him up before training camp begins. If not, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Pats bring him back sometime this summer, if they have an injury on the offensive line.

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