New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots finalized their roster cuts on Tuesday, trimming their roster down to the 53-player requirement. Among the players let go of was former first-round pick Cole Strange, as he failed to carve out a role for himself among the team’s offensive linemen.
Strange was selected with the No. 29 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft in one of the most surprising selections of the first round. Strange wasn’t expected to get selected until the second or third round, but Bill Belichick and company decided to use their first-round pick on him.
Initially, it looked like the bold decision might pay off. Strange started all 17 games at left guard for New England as a rookie and generally held up well. Over the past two seasons, though, he’s played in just 13 total games after he suffered a torn patellar tendon in his left, with his level of play not being particularly high when he was healthy and on the field.
It seemed like Strange would have a decent shot of cracking the roster entering training camp, but it became clear early on that he was on the outside looking in. Sure enough, he got released on Tuesday, as he did not fit into the new regime’s plans.
The decision to cut Strange isn’t necessarily surprising, but it is a confirmation that the team made a big mistake using a first-round pick on him. After news of his release surfaced, an old clip of Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay’s reaction to New England drafting Strange popped back up on social media and caught fans’ attention.
“Cole Strange just went. How about that?” McVay said, as he was speaking with reporters when the Patriots made their pick. “And we wasted our time watching him, thinking he’d be at (pick number) 104 maybe.”
McVay seemed to know at the time that Strange was getting selected way too high by the Patriots, and it turns out he knew what he was talking about. Maybe Strange could return as a practice squad player for New England, but if this closes the book on his tenure with the team, it’s safe to say he failed to meet expectations.
