Patriots reportedly releasing longtime center David Andrews
It’s been an offseason of change in Foxborough, and Thursday revealed another significant shift for the New England Patriots. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the team is releasing longtime center and captain David Andrews.
Andrews, 32, began his career with the Patriots as a UDFA out of Georgia in 2015. He assumed the starting role early in his rookie year and went on to start 121 games at center for the team over the last decade.
During that time, Andrews centered two Super Bowl wins – Super Bowl LI against the Falcons and LIII against the Rams. An eight-time captain, he was named to the Patriots All-2010s team. His 121 career starts are the fifth-most by a Patriots offensive lineman since 1970.
Last year Andrews only played in four games before suffering an injury that required season-ending rotator cuff surgery. “Andrews is recovering from shoulder surgery,” Reiss noted in his report. “If he decides to retire, the expectation is that the team would host a ceremony for him to honor his widespread contributions over the last decade.”
Now, center can be added to the list of needs on the Patriots’ offensive line. They have a few in-house options – Ben Brown started the majority of the games Andrews missed last year, and Cole Strange began making the transition from guard once he returned from his knee injury. That included two starts for him at the end of the year.
With Andrews’ release the Patriots have just two players remaining who were with the team during their last Super Bowl run in 2018 – Ja’Whaun Bentley and Joe Cardona, who is now the team’s longest-tenured player. Along with Andrews the Patriots also lost Deatrich Wise and Jonathan Jones from that group, after the two signed free agency deals with the Washington Commanders on Wednesday.
