Pats Pulpit
As the calendar turned from Monday to Tuesday, the New England Patriots had 76 players on their active roster. By 4 p.m. ET, that number will have been reduced to no more than 53.
Between releases, trades and other transactions, cutdown day in the NFL is always an eventful one. This year’s will be no different in New England and elsewhere across the league.
What will be different at least from a Patriots perspective is who is calling the shots. Mike Vrabel, who was hired in January, is in charge now; the 53-man roster will reflect its head coach’s personality and the identity he is looking for in his team.
“I want our fans to see a team that plays together,” Vrabel explained earlier this week. “Playing team defense that finishes; guys that are finishing around the football; we got O-linemen that are down the field; we have receivers that are willing to protect the guy with the ball. A team that takes care of the football, that values the football. Somebody that is able to turn the football over and affect the quarterback, and then a team that makes great decisions. I think that those are important when you’re out on the field.”
With that said, here are six thoughts on Vrabel’s team heading into cutdown day (plus a quick reminder to please follow our Patriots roster cuts tracker).
1. The Patriots tried their best this offseason to infuse some talent into a roster in desperate need of it. On paper, the results were impressive: they added some high-profile players in both free agency and the draft, addressing virtually every major hole on the team heading into 2025. However, those holes tend to be looked at individually rather than holistically. Zooming out a bit shows that there are still several areas of concern — that either went unaddressed or simply did not perform up to expectation this summer — creating one big issue.
While New England took an admittedly cost-heavy step forward at the starter level, the second and third layers of the roster are a potential problem. That is not a one-off either: from tight end, to the entire offensive line, to the defensive edge, to linebacker and cornerback, the depth looks better than last year but there still seems to be quite a bit of room for improvement.
The starter level is not immune to this either, by the way. While there have been improvements, questions remain heading toward the season. No position is a better example than wide receiver: New England spent notable assets to rebuild the group, but at the moment the top four options are a 31-year-old Stefon Diggs who had some quiet stretches in training camp, a receiver who crossed 400 yards only once in eight seasons, Mack Hollins, and a pair of third-year men — DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte — who have yet to show that they can be reliable every-down starters.
As with other spots on the team, there is...
