The New England Patriots some cuts more than 24 hours early today. The NFL mandates that teams have their rosters cut from 90 to 80 by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. I don’t think the Patriots were quite sitting at 90 but here are the players that were released:
S James Sanders- CB Jonathan Wilhite
- LS Matt Katula
- DE Clay Nurse
- K Chris Koepplin
- DT Kade Weston
- TE Garrett Mills
- WR Tyree Barnes
- WR Darnell Jenkins
- DB Malcom Williams
- OL Mark Wetterer
The biggest names amongst the cuts are obviously Sanders, Wilhite and Katula.
Sanders, a former starter, was projected as the third safety and he was scheduled to make $2.8 million this season which the team probably thought was a bit pricey for a part-time player.
Wilhite was seemingly on the bubble of making the team all preseason as it tries to straighten out its secondary woes of last year.
Katula was struggling as a long snapper and Bill Belichick says he expects to sign another one in the next few days thereby negating using LB Rob Ninkovich in that role.
Among the others who were released was Williams, who was a 7th round pick in this year’s draft. All the other players were long shots at best to make the team that is very deep on the defensive line and at wide receiver.
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