Patriots Player Departure OFFICIAL 2025 Patriots roster cutdown day discussion / tracker

[RobertWeathers]

Begs the question....

Is Wolf on a short leash in Foxboro? Vrabel seems to have total control of the roster. His only boss would be....Kraft?

I don't know who is holding the leash.

My understanding is Wolf reports to Bob/Jonathan but Magic Mike has final say on personnel authority.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

My guess is that Vrabel calls the shots, but Wolf "has final say" as far as being able to veto things if Vrabel goes off the reservation. That is to say - if Vrabel pulls a "**** the scouts, I'm drafting Cole Strange in the first round" or wants to trade 3 first round picks for a guy who is not remotely worth it. Wolf can say no. But otherwise, Wolf probably does what the Vrabel/Cowden brain trust says to do.

Ya, I don’t think so. Wolf has proven he shouldn’t have final say on anything. So who is he to determine if Vrabs has gone off the reservation? Maybe Kraft has to be consulted, but I really don’t think Wolf has the power u suggest

 

[manxman2601]

The Cole Strange era is over

 

[Ian]

The Cole Strange era is over

Wonder if Vrabel put in a good word for him there. Good for him. Definitely wish him the best.

 

[upstater1]

The Cole Strange era is over

If you sign a guy to your practice squad, that means he has cleared waivers, correct?

If I was a free agent OL, I certainly would not choose the worst QB room in the NFL unless I was desperate.

A good QB can resurrect your career.

Calling Donald Thomas.

 

[sb1]

The Cole Strange era is over

I think he's not long for his career if that injury is affecting him and it looks like it is. Good luck to him though, hope I'm wrong.

 

[Ross12]

Wonder if Vrabel put in a good word for him there. Good for him. Definitely wish him the best.

True, he probably did. Might be easier for Strange to just be some guy there vs. being the "former first round pick" here.

 

[Gumby]

Who's the second cut? Dobbs? WR7? Someone else?

Id cut dobbs, put him on ps (no one will claim him) activate him as qb2 for a couple weeks & make Devino em QB for those weeks. Eventually swap them or let Dobbs go if things go well.

 

[Ian]

True, he probably did. Might be easier for Strange to just be some guy there vs. being the "former first round pick" here.

100% agree. He'll never shake that label here. But I think he's done physically. Today's linemen have to do a lot more athletically, and I think his knee remains an issue and it's probably what did him in here.

 

[upstater1]

Maybe his playing Strength took a Big hit after that Injury. They had Benny Brown ahead of him all TC.

Which was strange.

We saw a lot of Brown last year, and we saw Strange replace him at center and look much better than Brown looked all year.

 

[DaBruinz]

The Cole Strange era is over

Good Luck, Cole. You'll be missed.

 

[upstater1]

Yep. Bill's roster building screwups along with Wolf's last season aren't an overnight fix.

You guys are sounding like the fans of every other NFL team who goes through years without winning.

Every single coach likes his own players and the others are square pegs in a round hole.

We saw this with Anthony Pleasant and Greg Spires. Spires was out the door, Pleasant was an old fogie. But that was Bill's decision to jettison players from another regime.

This staff sees little use for Dugger, but 2022 Dugger had a Pro Bowl worthy year and was clearly a key part of what Belichick wanted in his players.

This happens to every team that cycles through coaches.

 

[signbabybrady]

100% agree. He'll never shake that label here. But I think he's done physically. Today's linemen have to do a lot more athletically, and I think his knee remains an issue and it's probably what did him in here.

True. We could have used a little more depth but he could benefit and probably wanted a change of scenery. Another interesting tenure comes to close. Thx for the time.

 

[Ross12]

Id cut dobbs, put him on ps (no one will claim him) activate him as qb2 for a couple weeks & make Devino em QB for those weeks. Eventually swap them or let Dobbs go if things go well.

Personally, I'd leave them all on the roster for now so that Dobbs' salary becomes guaranteed by being rostered week 1. That way he will be more comfortable going to the PS and still being the QB2 for a few weeks from week 2 onwards. Less friction, more likely to play ball.

Edit: Nevermind, looking at OTC, I think his 2025 salary was guaranteed in his deal regardless.

 

[203Pat]

Baker is getting cut so it looks like we have our receiver room.

 

[The Gr8est]

My guess is that Vrabel calls the shots, but Wolf "has final say" as far as being able to veto things if Vrabel goes off the reservation. That is to say - if Vrabel pulls a "**** the scouts, I'm drafting Cole Strange in the first round" or wants to trade 3 first round picks for a guy who is not remotely worth it. Wolf can say no. But otherwise, Wolf probably does what the Vrabel/Cowden brain trust says to do.

Of if Vrabel insisted on drafting Ladd McConkey while Wolf knew Ja’Lynn Polk would be a better pro and they could get an extra draft pick to boot?

That kind of going off the reservation?

 

[Mack Herron]

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Generally agree except there is the twofold aspect of 1) the incumbency advantage of being able to resign your own players, sometimes at a discount, and 2) because of #1 the best players tend to get locked up, making the actual players available as FA to be a step down most of the time, and thus less likely to work out for the new team — especially when the incumbent team knows exactly his player’s full strengths, weaknesses, and motivations while the new team may not.

This is on the whole; we know on a case by case basis the results will and have differed (can’t exactly say the Dugger, Onwenu, or Bourne resignings from last year worked out well).

Point is, there is still a small residual effect from the 2020 and earlier drafts. But the real problems are the 2021 and forward drafts (2023 excepted to this point).

Lets play that out.

If you miss on a 1st rounder in 2020 that hurts the team 2020-2024. If you miss on a 2nd rounder that hurts the team 2020-2023.

If you cut said 2020 draftee in 2022 who would have been at a manageable salary, you now spend top dollar in 2023 FA which impacts you in 2023 and beyond.

No you don't, you simply sign a FA with a middling salary to replace the middling draft miss. There is no difference between a draft pick signed to a middling contract and a FA signing a middling contract. Same thing.

F-up the draft the following year and every other year afterwards and the cascading effect of ****ty drafts is compounded.

It does not play out that way. No NFL team has amazing drafts every year. In your scenario every team in the league is f!cked. You need to think it through.

Hammer of Thor is correct. The only downside is if you draft a Top 5 player at a position then possibly you have a sentimental advantage to signing that player, but even then is that an advantage beyond a couple of top players? Look at Dallas signing Lamb, Dak, and Parsons. Are they better off signing all three? I don't think so. Are the Cowboys going to win the SB with those top three of the market signings that they had drafted? The Cowboys made some great draft picks, how much did it help them 4 or 5 years later in winning a SB?

Posters still talk about signing "nationally recognized players" or "1st team All Pro players" but that is not what leads to a SB. What we need is a Top 5 QB, and one or two other top 5 of the market players, and after that we need a whole bunch of middle of the road players and some luck on injuries. Middle of the road players can be from our draft picks or from FA.

Amazing drafts 4 years ago are not important. What is important is finding the QB, one or two other Top 5 players who are usually a WR/TE, a DT/DE, or a CB. After that the GM has to sign a bunch a middling players that hit, be that previous draft picks or FAs. We signed Williams and Barmore as Top 5 DTs, and signed Chaisson and Spillane as middling players. Someone new in the Patriots FA knows what they are doing.

 

[Love The Drake]

How’s the PS looking?

 

[PatsFan2]

That 2024 Patriots Draft is one for the ages Hofer's galore.