Pats Pulpit
The Patriots parted ways with the undrafted rookie on Thursday.
The NFL never sleeps, and the New England Patriots reminded us of that on Thursday. Defensive tackle Wilfried Pene, a member of the team’s undrafted rookie class, has been released. The 24-year-old is subject to the waiver wire, which means that another team could pick him up before he enters the open market.
Let’s assess what the move means for the Patriots.
The Patriots entered Thursday with nine defensive tackles on their roster, including Pene. Removing the youngster from the group does reduce its overall depth, but as a look at our up-to-date roster shows, there still is plenty of it:
Interior defensive line (8): Christian Barmore (90), Milton Williams (97), Joshua Farmer (92), Khyiris Tonga (95), Jeremiah Pharms Jr. (98), Jaquelin Roy (94), Jahvaree Ritzie (93), Isaiah Iton (96)
The Patriots want their defensive line to be a strength for the team, and it definitely projects as such at the starter level. On paper, Christian Barmore and Milton Williams are one of the best interior duos in all of football.
The depth behind the two, however, remains a question mark. Waiving Pene changes little in that regard given his status as an undrafted rookie who was a longshot to contribute in 2025 to begin with, but his release again shines the light on the layers below Barmore and Williams — and the fact that those are not necessarily established.
Even though Pene did participate in the Patriots’ offseason workouts, albeit in a limited capacity at times, he did not count against their 90-man roster.
Born in the city of Tours in France, he was granted international status and therefore a roster exemption; Pene was the 91st player on the team by the time of his release. Accordingly, New England did not gain a roster spot with the move.
The international pathway exemption allows players to be part of teams without taking up roster spots. In Pene’s and other IPPP players’ cases, it would not have extended to the active roster come the regular season; had he made the 53-man team out of training camp, his exemption would have ended. It might, however, have become relevant for the practice squad (Pene would have qualified for IPPP status as an exempt 17th player).
As with his impact on the defensive tackle depth chart, Pene’s release hardly tips the scale as far as the overall roster construction is concerned. However, it is an opportunity to revisit this part of the NFL landscape — one the Patriots have come across on multiple occasions through the years ranging from fullback Jakob Johnson to defensive lineman Jotham Russell and, most recently, Pene himself.
Pene now being off the roster naturally reduces the number of rookies on the team (even though he officially did not count). That said, New England still has plenty of first-year players signed: a total of...
