Mayo
Spikes
Guyton
McKenzie
Williams
Banta-Cain
Cunningham
Burgess
Woods
Ninkovich
Murrell
Alexander
Fletcher
OK, I'll play. There are 13 LB on the list. I think we keep 9 including Burgess, same as we did last year. I need to cut 4 of these guys.
Fletcher is going to the PS for further seasoning, and Williams is cut. Leaves 2.
Sadly, I think Murrell has to go (shadow squad?). Leaves 1.
The last one is a toughie.
Banta-Cain, Mayo, Spikes, Cunningham, Burgess, McKenzie, and Guyton are locks as position players.
Woods, Alexander, and Ninkovich are locks as ST (combining for over a third of the team's ST tackles last year).
Oh snap, that's 10.
I have 2 solutions. First, though it's extreme, would be to IR Cunningham. He hasn't shown he's ready, he hasn't played in a while due to injury, and IRing him saves a slot while allowing him to develop into a challenging position.
Alternately, the best STer out of Spikes, Cunningham, and McKenzie replaces the positionless Alexander on the ST unit, and Alexander is cut. I don't like the idea of losing another productive player, but they need to develop another OLB and Alexander isn't going to be it. Ninkovich and Cunningham fight it out for that OLB slot.
Incidentally, Burgess is going nowhere. People don't realize he played the most snaps as a pass rusher of any Patriot, tied for the team with 23 QB pressures, and was second with 6 sacks, do they.