Patriots Insider Projects Four Cuts in Key Position Battle
By Joe Summers
The Patriots' cornerback battle is among the most interesting storylines as we approach the NFL's roster cutdown day on Tuesday. New England must trim its 90-man roster to 53 players, and depth in the secondary is a major topic of debate throughout the fanbase.
Doug Kyed of the Boston Globe published observations following the conclusion of training camp. He's projecting four players to be cut, giving the position some clarity.
We know that guys like Christian Gonzales and Jonathan Jones will be on the final roster, but what will the rest of the cornerback room look like?
Patriots Insider Projects Four Cornerback Cuts
With six days to go before the Patriots must trim their roster to 53 players, they made one cut today. https://t.co/oIdRDOcNDG
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) August 21, 2024
The Patriots have a deep cornerback room with a multitude of talented players. Not all of them can make the team, creating controversy regarding who has the highest upside while maintaining a safe floor.
Kyed writes, "Cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino called this the deepest group of young cornerbacks he’s coached since joining the organization in 2015. Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones are making the team. Then that leaves somewhere between two and four spots left for Alex Austin, Isaiah Bolden, Marcellas Dial, Azizi Hearn, Mikey Victor, Shaun Wade and Marco Wilson."
It's a competitive group, though one Kyed believes has established a pecking order. "Wade isn’t fully healthy," he continues. "That could open the door for those spots to go to Austin, Bolden and Wilson."
If those players make the roster, Dial, Hearn, Victor, and Wade are all probable cuts. It's likely New England would try to keep at least one of those players on the practice squad, though all four could be looking for new jobs as soon as this weekend.
For a rebuilding team hoping to return to the Super Bowl heights that came in the previous regime, this represents a good kind of problem. We'll find out in the coming days who will make the final roster, though it's obvious the front office has some difficult decisions to make.
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