Pats Pulpit
The Patriots are in the process of turning over their roster.
Ever since Mike Vrabel was hired as their new head coach, the New England Patriots’ roster has undergone a major transformation process — one that has led to some high-profile departures. The latest among those is long snapper Joe Cardona, who was released on Tuesday after 10 years and a combined 173 games with the organization.
Cardona is just one of several veterans to get handed his walking papers over the last few months. Before him, the Patriots also released fellow team captains David Andrews and Ja’Whaun Bentley while also deciding not to retain Deatrich Wise Jr. and Jonathan Jones in free agency.
As a result of those moves, only 10 veterans — i.e. players with more than four years of experience — remain on the Patriots’ roster who signed their current contracts before 2025. Given the apparent willingness to thin out that particular group, the team might not be done either.
So, who might follow Cardona, Andrews and company? Let’s take a look at each of the candidates individually to get a better understanding, split into three groups: no salary cap concerns, salary cap concerns and unrealistic cut candidate.
The players listed here could be let go immediately with comparatively minor cap ramifications. That does not mean they are any more or less likely to be released than others, but their contract situations are more inviting toward such a move.
WR Kendrick Bourne: If we had to rank the 10 players listed here in terms of likelihood of getting cut, Bourne would probably rank No. 1. Not only did the Patriots make some major investments at wide receiver this offseason — including two players projected to play similar roles as him (Stefon Diggs, Kyle Williams) — his contract also would allow for an easy parting of the ways: cutting the 29-year-old right now would create $2.8 million in dead cap but also come with net savings of almost $4 million.
RB Antonio Gibson: The dead money would outweigh the net salary cap gain in Gibson’s case ($3.175M vs. $400k), but that would not prevent the team from letting him go. What might, though, is the current running back depth chart: even with second-round draft pick TreVeyon Henderson now on board and providing a similar profile as Gibson, New England might benefit from keeping the veteran around as a rotational No. 3 at the position.
ED Anfernee Jennings: As is the case with Antonio Gibson, cutting Jennings also would create a higher dead cap charge ($3.35M) than actual net cap savings ($1M). And, once again, that would probably not be a deal-breaker for New England as far as parting ways with the 2020 third-round draft pick. What does work in his favor, though, is the depth chart: while fifth-round draft pick Bradyn Swinson is an intriguing addition, the rest of the group consisting only of K’Lavon Chaisson, Bradyn Swinson and Truman Jones points toward...
