Obviously, following the draft the Patriots have added to their roster with several of the draft selections already signing contracts, but is it the players who have left that’s of more significance?
(For a full draft recap see the great work from Tom Shaw-Mellors https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-2022-draft-recap/)
Going back aways the Patriots said bye bye to Chase Winovich for Mack Wilson — bit of addition by subtraction — kinda. Maybe just a like for like in regards to player talent, but time will tell. It would seem both guys needed a change of scenery so expectation may not be too high.
Ted Karras and Shaq Mason — you know what, it’s still too fresh, I can’t talk about their departure from Foxborough just yet…
But the Patriots and the NFL, did poach a shining prospect in Drew Desjarlais, top offensive lineman from the CFL. They also added depth to the wide receiver room with DeVante Parker heading over from Miami.
Terrence Mitchell, Jabrill Peppers, and Malcom Butler came over to put a bit of extra experience in the defence, with the Patriots not signing one linebacker in the draft. They picked up the UDFA DaMarcus Mitchell, who is noted as a DE, but did play in the linebacker position at Purdue, but it’s looking like all those year two chaps might have some time to shine in 2022.
Jarrett Stidham recently joined the slew of participants on the bus to Las Vegas, catching up with the likes of Brandon Bolden and Jakob Johnson who departed New England as free agents. And whilst we are talking about it, other past Patriots have been drawn to the bright lights of Sin City and Josh McDaniels, with the Raiders signing Chandler Jones, Duron Harmon, Jacob Hollister, Tashawn Bower and Cre’van LeBlanc. Not to mention a stack of coach and personnel peeps too!
And how can I forget, the release of the very versatile Devine Ozigbo, who was another casualty of the draft with running back being a double dip position.
But you know what they did bring in !?!?!? A tight end!! Yeah okay, I’m not that excited by Matt Sokol really, yet, he hasn’t played many games in the NFL after being picked up as an UDFA by the Chargers in 2018, but he’s said to be a great blocker and we all know how much I like those! Probably a bit of a practice squad addition really, indicating it’s a good chance Troy Fumagali isn’t on his return stint to New England, but with the revolving door that is training camp, you never know.
Whilst some fans wait to see if N’Keal Harry gets on the Vegas bus, or any other for that matter, some of us wonder if Devin Asiasi has a ticket out of Foxborough too. Some even believe Nelson Agholor could be another candidate for exit. Agholor did help the offence last year by drawing coverage, but there’s a possibility that role could be filled with the addition of the speedy receiver in the draft of Tyquan Thornton. I feel it’s a catch-22 situation, they spent a lot of cap on him to give up after just one year, but there’s the catch, spent a lot. So moving on from him could free up some cap. According the fantastic @patscap Miguel Benzan, releasing Nelson Agholor in 2022 could create $3.9M, trading him opens $8.9M and extending him (I know, I know that’s the opposite, but it’s for informational purposes!) $3.94M.
It’s still all kinds of “ifs and butts and candy and nuts” right now, but the schedule is out and we have games on the calendar, it’s beginning to smell a lot like football!
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