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Patriots Releasing Super Bowl Champion, Former Team Captain

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Mar 28, 2025 1:16 PM ET

The Patriots don't have many players remaining from their 2018 Super Bowl championship team still on the roster. Unfortunately for one player, that number has now shrunk further today.

According to Ari Meirov of The 33rd NFL Team, the Patriots are going to be releasing linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley after seven seasons with the team. Bentley was a rookie during the team's Super Bowl 53 win over the Los Angeles Rams but emerged as one of their top linebackers over the past few years.

Bentley has started 68 of 83 games, recording 509 combined tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 29 QB hits, 11 passes defended and 10.5 sacks. Between 2021 and 2023 he recorded over 100 tackles each year. Meirov noted that he was a multiple-time team captain as well.

Just in: The #Patriots are expected to release LB Ja'Whaun Bentley after seven seasons, during which he started 68 games, recorded over 500 tackles, and served as a multi-time captain. pic.twitter.com/uhzXvLJJwc
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 28, 2025

In 2023, Bentley signed a two-year, $13.5 million contract extension with $9 million in guarantees that should have kept him in New England through the 2025 season. But an ill-timed injury in 2024 limited him to just two games.

Perhaps with the team seeking to get younger and invest in free agents, the Patriots simply decided that they couldn't risk Bentley not being back to full strength in the final year of his deal.

The release of Bentley further decreases the remaining number of players that have been a part of the Patriots' second Super Bowl dynasty in the 2010s.

The 2024 roster alone had only these players who had been on the roster for previous Super Bowl wins:

David Andrews
Joe Cardona
Jacoby Brissett
Jonathan Jones
Deatrich Wise Jr.

That's it. Everyone else is either too young to have been a part of their last title team with Tom Brady or were simply a part of other teams at the time.

Even most of the coaching staff weren't a part of Bill Belichick's final Super Bowl-winning coaching staff.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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