Another Patriots captain isn’t expected to return in 2025
Ja’Whaun Bentley appears to be the latest longtime New England Patriots to be heading elsewhere in 2025.
This offseason has seen the New England Patriots part ways with multiple longtime members of the team. The latest such player appears to be linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley.
On Friday afternoon, Bentley posted on X/Twitter “New England!! Thank You for Everything!! It’s Been a Blessing”
Shortly after that, ESPN’s Mike Reiss noted that the “expectation is that the team will be releasing him today.”
Bentley, 28, joined the Patriots as a fifth-round pick out of Purdue in 2018. He played seven years for the Patriots, appearing in 83 games and recording 509 tackles with 21 tackles for a loss, 10.5 sacks, and 11 pass breakups. Bentley was a captain four times for the Patriots, including last year.
A torn biceps limited Bentley to just three games as a rookie, but he was part of the team that won Super Bowl LIII, the Patriots’ most recent championship. With his release, the only player remaining from that team is now long snapper Joe Cardona.
Over the next five years Bentley missed a total of just five games. However, a torn pec limited him to just two games last season.
Prior to being released Bentley had been working to get ready for the new defense under head coach Mike Vrabel. Earlier this month Mike Giardi of Boston Sports Journal had reported that Bentley had dropped his weight “in the mid-230s” after playing closer to 250 pounds in the past. That would put him in line with some of the faster, more athletic linebackers the Patriots have added this offseason such as Robert Spillane and Jack Gibbens. The team also brought back Christian Elliss, who is more of a stylistic fit.
The only other off-ball linebackers remaining from last year are now Jahlani Tavai and Monty Rice, although Rice played for Vrabel in Tennessee. Tavai, who is more of a traditional bigger downhill linebacker, signed a three-year contract extension with the team last July.
Roster turnover has extended beyond the linebacker position this offseason for the Patriots. Bentley’s release comes just a couple of weeks after the team released another former captain and franchise cornerstone, center David Andrews. Fellow 2024 captains defensive lineman Deatrich Wise and quarterback Jacoby Brissett left in free agency, as did cornerback Jonathan Jones, who was also one of the longest tenured members of the team.
