Next roster-building steps for the Patriots
What’s next for the Patriots after setting their initial 53-man roster?
After a month and a half of build-up through training camp and the regular season, the Patriots officially set their initial 53-man roster at the 4 p.m. ET deadline on Tuesday. Now, what’s?
The initial 53-man roster is just that – initial. In the two weeks between now and their first game, the Patriots will continue to tweak there roster here and there. There’s a few ways they have to do that. Here’s what Patriots fans should be watching for over the next few weeks…
Waiver wire
Both Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo have talked quite a bit about the waiver wire in recent days. With initial cuts done, that process is now underway.
The NFL waiver wire works a lot like your fantasy football waiver wire. Any player with less than four accrued seasons is subject to waivers rather than outright released. At that point, the other 31 teams all get a chance to put a claim in on that player. If multiple teams put in a claim, the team with the highest priority is awarded the player.
At the start of the season, wavier priority goes in the inverse order of last year’s standings. So the worst team (the Carolina Panthers) has the top priority, and on and on. The Patriots have the third spot on the waiver wire this year, and that will remain unchanged no matter how many players they claim. They’ll remain in that third spot through the first three weeks – the waiver order changes in Week 4 to reflect the current year’s standings and updates weekly after that.
Teams have until noon on Wednesday to put in their waiver claims on the initial wave of players waived around the league on cutdown day. So the results of the claims will be known soon. If/when the Patriots are awarded players they’ll then have to make corresponding moves to open up the needed roster spots. The same will happen around the league, creating another go-round of players put on waivers, and the whole cycle happens again (although the waiver deadline moves to 4 p.m. ET from Thursday on).
Outright free agency
Players not eligible for waivers become outright free agents once their cut. That includes players let go on cut-down day, and any who are released moving forwards as teams keep rounding out their rosters.
This is another spot where the Patriots can add some talent and much-needed depth. One player to watch in that regard is tackle Geron Christian, who was let go by the Titans on Tuesday. Christian started nine games at left tackle for the Cleveland Browns last year, playing for current Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Christian has played 58 games with 25 starts over his six-year NFL career, mostly playing at left tackle.
Moving players to IR
With the initial roster set, the Patriots can now start moving players to IR and keep them eligible to return this season. Doing so can be another way of opening up roster spots for any incoming additions.
The Patriots ended camp relatively healthy, with Marte Mapu getting one of two allowed IR-designated to return spots available before roster cuts. As for other candidates, Sidy Sow could be a candidate for another IR spot, after suffering an injury in the preseason finale. The severity of that injury is still unknown.
Tight end Hunter Henry, tackle Vederian Lowe, and edge rushers Joshua Uche and Oshane Ximines were also dealing with injuries late in camp, but none seemed significant enough where they would need to miss four weeks of the regular season – the minimum for players placed on IR. Plus, all four play positions where the Patriots are significantly lacking depth.
Building the practice squad
In addition to rounding out their 53-man roster, the Patriots can soon start building up their practice squad as well. Each team is allowed 16 practice squad players, including up to six veterans. The remaining spots go to rookies or second-year players.
Practice squad spots can be offered to unclaimed players as soon as the noon deadline hits on Wednesday, although teams usually let players know when they’re first cut if they plan on bringing them back on the practice squad if they go unclaimed. Veterans not going through waivers can sign with practice squads at any time.
Generally these signings are done pretty quickly, and attendance at the initial practice after roster cuts gives a good indication of what the practice squad will look like (especially when it comes to players retained from the summer). The Patriots are scheduled to practice at 2:30 on Wednesday, so we’ll get a look at who is still around then (if the practice squad isn’t already reported beforehand). We put together a projected practice squad on our initial roster reactions here.
