The New England Patriots are going back to work in training camp. After winning yet another Super Bowl, the team reloaded after key departures via free agency and retirement. Their roster, after tinkering and toying in away, is not yet finalized, though. Expect Bill Belichick to waste no time upgrading when cuts to start to roll around league-wide (as always).
However, Belichick and Co. will make some rather obvious cuts come the end of training camp and pre-season ball. Here are three roster cuts that make happen during that period. None are particularly surprising, but two are long-time Pats.
3. Danny Etling – QB
With the starters position locked up, his backup in place (Brian Hoyer), and a fourth-round rookie (Jarret Stidham), the Patriots appear set at quarterback. Unless a surprise Hoyer cut comes along — which would be very surprising as Stidham may not be NFL-ready yet. This puts the fourth quarterback on the roster, Danny Etling, in a tight spot to make the team.
A seventh-round pick out of LSU in 2018, Etling didn't take a snap in 2018 — after having a highlights-reel pre-season. Instead, landing on the practice squad for the year. Expect more of the same next season, as if he gets back on the practice squad, he'd be a solid scout-team quarterback to emulate run-happy quarterbacks.
2. Ryan Allen – P
It seems inevitable that the Patriots' long-time punter Ryan Allen will be on his way out. Though Allen has served for the team at the position since 2013, New England drafted Stanford's Jake Bailey in the fifth-round — a somewhat surprising move.
Allen finished 2018 around league average in punting yards (2,885 – 18th), average (45.1 – 16th), and longest punt (66 – 12th). Bailey, at Stanford as a senior, booted 68 balls for 2,996 yards on a 44.1 average. Not great numbers, but he's more of a hang-time ace than homerun punter. Nonetheless, drafting a punter in the fifth rarely tends to bode well for the incumbent.
1. Nate Ebner – S
I nearly omitted Nate Ebner from this group as he's been a core special-teamer for the team since 2012. Belichick loves to have aces on the third side of the ball, and he's just that. However, the Patriots signed on former Jet Terrence Brooks as a free agent to a two-year deal, who according to ESPN's Mike Reiss, has a fan in Belichick:
Belichick became particularly impressed with Brooks after one Patriots-Jets game, and never forgot about him after that. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a hard-fought 24-17 Patriots road win in 2017, when Brooks registered a quarterback hit on Tom Brady in a niche defensive role.
Brooks has a leg-up over Ebner on the basis that he offers a skillset that can play on both defense and special teams. That shows in their contracts too — Brooks' guarantees are twice that of Ebner's. In 2018, Brooks played 69 defensive snaps; five more than Ebner's played since 2015 (64). All indications point to the fresh face making the roster.
Cutting Ebner would be on the basis that the Patriots keep four safeties instead of five. For many teams that's a risk. However, cornerback Johnathan Jones has the versatility to play the position, and they entered 2018 with four, including Ebner.
Unfortunately, with Brooks on the roster, it looks like the Olympian rugby player's time is coming up in Foxborough. Nonetheless, don't be surprised if my words are entirely wrong, and the Patriots take in five safeties instead of four to keep one of their best special teamers around. However, it seems unlikely as of now.
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