Today's the day for the Patriots and every other NFL to get down to their initial 53-man roster by the 4 p.m. deadline.
Here's the schedule:
8/31/2019: Prior to 4 p.m., New York time, clubs must reduce rosters to a maximum of 53 players on the Active/Inactive List.
8/31/2019: Simultaneously with the cut-down to 53, clubs that have players in the categories of Active/Physically Unable to Perform or Active/Non-Football Injury or Illness must select one of the following options: place player on Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform
9/1/2019: Claiming period for players placed on waivers at the final roster reduction will expire at 12:00 noon, New York time.
9/1/2019: Upon receipt of the Personnel Notice at approximately 1 p.m., New York time, clubs may establish a practice squad of 10 players.
Here's how we got here:
What kind of player are the Patriots getting in Russell Bodine? The man who developed him breaks it down
PatsCap: Explaining the waiver process, practice squad requirements and who’s eligible for the Patriots
Some of the players who could be available around the NFL via trade or release
Live Coverage: Patriots start to get down to 53 – Duke Dawson traded, C Russ Bodine acquired
Road to 53, v.19.6 – FINAL: Did inactives for finale give road map to initial 53-man roster?
TODAY'S MOVES AND ANALYSIS
7:10 p.m.: Patriots finally announced their full allotment of roster moves to get to 53:
The Patriots placed the following players on injured reserve: C David Andrews, OL Hjalte Froholdt, DB Malik Gant and DL Derek Rivers. In addition, New England also placed OL Yodny Cajuste on the reserve/non-football injury list and WR Cameron Meredith on the reserve/physically unable to perform list.
The Patriots released 27 players: TE Stephen Anderson, TE Andrew Beck, WR Braxton Berrios, RB Nick Brossette, OL Cole Croston, WR Ryan Davis, OL James Ferentz, OL Tyler Gauthier, LB Terez Hall, DL Trent Harris, DB A.J. Howard, QB Brian Hoyer, OL Martez Ivey, FB Jakob Johnson, DL Ufomba Kamalu, OL Cedrick Lang, LB Calvin Munson, DL David Parry, WR Damoun Patterson, LB Christian Sam, TE Eric Saubert, OL Dan Skipper, OL Tyree St. Louis, WR Demaryius Thomas, DL Nick Thurman, DB Ken Webster, and LB Scooby Wright III.
INITIAL THOUGHTS
These were the unexpected moves that bought them some extra roster spots:
Duke Dawson trade
Keion Crossen trade
Hjlate Froholdt IR
Derek Rivers IR
Demaryius Thomas release
You could make the argument that got these players on the roster:
Gunner Olszewski
Deatrich Wise
Obi Melifonwu/Duron Harmon
Elandon Roberts
Jakobi Meyers/Phillip Dorsett
We still have to see if anyone is played on IR for a possible return (N'Keal Harry, Damien Harris, Matt LaCosse, Shilique Calhoun, Nate Ebner) would be some of the possible candidates. That would allow them to bring a few players back.
The Patriots are very heavy at DL (six for a 3-4 is a lot) and safety.
If I'm Gunner Olszewski, I'm renting by the week. That could be as a stopgap for a possible injury. Also, teams are less reluctant to sign players to their practice squad after they've already filled it up.
Will have more in a column in a bit.
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