New England Patriots - NESN.com
The Patriots didn’t need to create cap space, but they did so anyway by making a rare roster move in the middle of February.
New England announced the release of linebacker Sione Takitaki on Wednesday.
Takitaki, 29, was signed as an unrestricted free agent on March 14, 2024. The Cleveland Browns originally selected him out of BYU in the 2019 NFL Draft, eventually allowing him to reach free agency at the conclusion of his rookie contract. The Patriots missed him for the majority of training camp last season, as injuries limited him to just four starts on the season.
New England saves just under $3 million against the cap with the move, which was forecasted in NESN’s “Patriots Manifesto” last week.
The Patriots are now expected to have roughly $136 million to work with this offseason. The NFL on Wednesday sent a memo to teams informing them that the salary cap will fall in the range of $277.5 million to $281.5 million in 2025.
Takitaki is the first major player transaction for New England before things start to get crazy when free agency opens on March 12.
