Frankly, I think the Patriots are being cautious with all the players at this point. Besides, how many roster spots are really open? Six or seven tops. We know who is going to make this team for the most part. There is always a surprise or two, including a big trade. Blount might be that guy this year if he is not out there earning his spot with the looks of this RB group.
Otherwise, there's no point in Edelman, Branch, Lafell, Scott Chandler, etc to risk anything right now.
Belichick has said in the past that the first four weeks of the regular season are like camp now, and sees that as the period when timing and the full playbook is introduced. Last season sure looked like that. The Raiders game was about the most boring, unimaginative, vanilla offense and defense we've seen. The Dolphins opener in 2014 sucked, too. Everyone on this board went nuts over how awful they looked.
The spanking in KC was a big wake up call, but also led to the biggest win of the regular season in Cincinnati.
My feeling is that they need to get a good look at the new guys to make their roster selections and head into the regular season looking for 2-2 in the first four weeks. After that, it's payback time for all this off-season BS.