The list of players the Patriots have cut since March reads something like a Pro Bowl roster from four or five years ago.
Chad Ochocinco, Joseph Addai, Anthony Gonzalez and now, Donte Stallworth have been unceremoniously dumped by Bill Belichick and Co. in the past few months.
Profootballtalk.com reported that Stallworth was released yesterday. Wide receiver Jabar Gaffney was also let go by the Patriots.
The wide receiver position was considered the deepest for the Patriots and it was known that more than a few tough cuts were going to have to be made.
It would seem that Belichick valued the likes of 33-year-old Deion Branch over the 32-year-old Stallworth and 31-year-old Gaffney.
Defensive lineman Gerard Warren was also reportedly waived to get the Pats down to the 75-man roster limit. Warren was released by New England just prior to the start of the 2011 season but soon-after signed back on with the Pats.
Condo on my neck, Hernandez cashin’ out
Who says the Patriots are cheap?
More importantly, who says the Patriots don’t lock up young, talented players?
New England now has Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski locked up through the latter part of this decade. Hernandez got a five-year, $40 million extension yesterday while Gronkowski (eight years, $55.23 million) got his due three months ago.
The one downside to the Patriots getting this deal done is that it becomes increasingly likely that Wes Welker will be in a different uniform a year from now.
Welker didn’t go into detail as to why he didn’t play in the preseason loss to Tampa Bay last Friday night.
“A lot of it is personal issues, so I’ll just leave it at that and let coach (Bill) Belichick take care of everything else,” Welker said. “I mean, I think you can just talk to coach on that.”
53
NFL teams must cut their rosters down to 53 players by this Friday Aug. 31 at 9 p.m. The Patriots have made plenty of big moves at the roster deadline before, most notably, releasing Lawyer Milloy in 2003.
