Patriots waive tight end to reach 85-man roster limit
Following their four cuts on Sunday, the Patriots had 86 players on their roster. The team needed to be at 85 by the NFL’s 4:00 p.m. deadline as a part of the new staggered roster cuts for this year.
The team’s final cut was tight end Troy Fumagalli, who was waived with an injury designation Tuesday afternoon. TE Troy Fumagalli was waived by the Patriots with an injury designation, which gets the team to the 85-man roster limit.
Fumagalli originally signed with the Patriots in late May, leading into spring practices. He played 11 snaps in the team’s preseason opener, but didn’t see a target.
Without Fumagalli and David Wells, another tight end who was released on Sunday, the Patriots depth is thin at the tight end position. Presumptive starters Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith have both been held out of recent practices due to injuries, and backup Matt LaCosse left Monday’s practice early after a hard hit. That leaves Devin Asiasi as the lone healthy tight end heading into Thursday night’s preseason game against the Eagles, although he is still working his way back from COVID-19 after testing positive at the start of training camp.
In addition to releasing Fumagalli, the Patriots announced they have placed wide receiver Marvin Hall on IR. It was originally reported on Sunday that Hall had been released.
Tuesday was the first of three roster cutdown deadlines this offseason. A week from now – on Aug. 24 – the roster limit will move from 85 players to 80. After that comes the cut to the initial 53-man rosters, which has to be done by Tuesday Aug. 31. Each cutdown has a 4:00 p.m. deadline.
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Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at [email protected].
