With the deadline for the reduction of NFL rosters to 85 players set at 4:00pm Tuesday, the New England Patriots were required to make one more move to be in compliance with the League’s directive.
As first reported by ESPN’s Mike Reiss, tight end Troy Fumagalli has been released from the team, with an injury designation.
Fumagalli signed with the Patriots as a free agent in May, providing depth to the positional grouping at tight end. Unfortunately, injuries have had quite the impact on his professional resume. The 26-year-old has only played in 19 career games with five starts and registered 14 receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
Fumagalli was a fifth-round draft choice by the Denver Broncos in 2018 out of the University of Wisconsin. After spending his rookie season on injured reserve, he returned to play in 11 games with five starts for the Broncos in 2019. He was released by Denver in September 2020. He would spend some time on the Houston Texans practice squad before being re-signed to the Broncos practice squad in November. He split time for the remainder of the season between the Broncos practice squad and the active roster, seeing action in eight games as a reserve, catching eight passes for 80 yards and one touchdown.
With Fumagalli’s release, the Patriots seemingly have only one, healthy tight end on their roster expected to see action in their upcoming second preseason contest. New England is set to take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday, August 19 at 7:30pm at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Throughout the past few days, Hunter Henry (shoulder), Jonnu Smith (ankle), and Matt LaCosse (reported head injury), have all been absent from the practice fields. Devin Asiasi, who was recently activated at tight end Thursday against the Eagles, will likely be the only healthy player at the position.
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