Wide receiver, fullback among four Patriots free agent workouts
The New England Patriots hosted four free agents for workouts on Friday.
As the Patriots enter the second week of the preseason, they’re still working on rounding out their roster. On Friday, the team hosted four free agents for workouts.
On Friday morning, head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters the team wild be hosting offensive linemen for a workout. Friday afternoon when the list was reported by NFL insider Aaron Wilson it included one center, plus a fullback, tight end, and wide receiver. It’s possible the team hosted more workouts that didn’t get reported, with none of the visits making the league wire for Friday.
The center the Patriots worked out is Mike Novitsky. A UDFA out of Kansas, Novitsky had one All-Big-12 season in four years as a starter. He was released by the Seahawks earlier this week.
Fullback Nick Bawden also visited the Patriots on Friday. Bawden, 28, has appeared in 35 NFL games for the Detroit Lions and New York Jets since entering the league in 2018. He was a seventh-round pick by the Lions in 2018, who were then coached by former Patriots assistant Matt Patricia.
Bawden’s visit stands out because the Patriots haven’t had a traditional fullback on the roster since 2021, and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt didn’t have a dedicated fullback on the roster his final two years in Cleveland. He’d occasionally use other players in that role (such as offensive linemen), and we’ve seen the Patriots briefly experiment with using defensive linemen in that spot on the goal line in this camp.
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Then there are two pass catchers – wide receiver Isaiah Ford and tight end Neal Johnson. Ford, 28, was briefly on the Patriots before – they acquired him in a trade deadline deal with the Miami Dolphins in 2020 – but he didn’t appear in a game before being released a month later.
Ford ended up back in Miami where he played with current Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett in his most recent game action in 2021. Most recently, Ford was with the Chicago Bears last summer, but was released after camp.
Johnson is another UDFA out of Louisiana. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound tight end caught 30 passes for 383 yards and five touchdowns for the Ragin’ Cajuns last year. He signed on with the Rams in the spring, but was released earlier this week when the Rams signed former Patriots tackle Conor McDermott.
If the Patriots want to sign any of these players, they have the room to do so. There is an open spot on the 90-man roster after the release of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on Friday.
