See You Later Guys On The Bottom Of The Patriots' Roster

The prospect of summer ending is always rough-no matter how old you are-when you live in New England with our unforgiving winters but on the other hand, watching the Patriots' latest regular season roster take shape under Bill Belichick is always similar to viewing a renowned piece of modern art.

With the 4 p.m. deadline coming tomorrow to get down to 75 players, three players' names were leaked as the Patriots trimmed three useless guys to get down to 82 this afternoon. Say goodbye (at least temporarily) to safety Josh Barrett, defensive lineman Gerard Warren and unofficial team mascot Ross Ventrone.

Barrett's limited action on the field last season was nothing short of a disaster. Add to that, he's always injured so he had no chance of making this team with Steve Gregory and rookie Tavon Wilson ahead of him. Warren was cut last year too but returned later in the season so I wouldn't be surprised if they bring the old man back once someone else inevitably goes down on the defensive line. Finally, Ventrone still has practice squad eligibility left (don't ask me how) so you can count on 1000 more transactions with him in 2012. I hope they haven't moved his cot out of one of the team's storage closets since I heard that's where he lives during the season.

Stay tuned tomorrow as I update this with the seven more unlucky guys that get cut. Don't expect any big names or seemingly important players to go. That'll happen after the last preseason game which is on Wednesday at the Giants. We are now less than two weeks away from the start of the 2012 regular season. I had my first (and by far most important) fantasy football draft earlier tonight so I can officially say that it is football season now, that's where my mind is headed.

UPDATE 8/27: Defensive lineman Tim Bulman (a BC High and BC product), wide receiver Donte' Stallworth and fullback Spencer Larsen have reportedly been released with injured tight end Jake Ballard placed on the reserve/PUP list.

The first surprise was that wide receiver Jabar Gaffney was released. Cornerback Will Allen, Larsen and Barrett were all placed on IR. Defensive lineman Myron Pryor was put on the reserve/PUP list. Rookie free agent offensive lineman Markus Zusevics was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list. Finally, the team claimed wide receiver Kerry Taylor off waivers from the Vikings.

UPDATE 8/28: Ventrone cleared waivers so he's now on IR.

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You Might Have Forgotten About Him But Gerard Warren Is Still Here

You know a football player is invisible when you completely forgot that he was on the roster.

No lie, when I read that Gerard Warren was re-signing with the Patriots, it made me think "he was on the team last season?" To my surprise, he played in 12 games last season as a reserve and had 12 tackles with a sack.

I'm not going to bash the guy since he's been a pro the last two seasons in New England. He's 33-years-old which is pretty long in the tooth but defensive tackle isn't the most athletic position which means that blobs like him can be durable compared to skilled position spots where you take many more rougher hits in a short period of time.

With Kyle Love and Myron Pryor in front of him, not to mention Vince Wilfork who is one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL, Warren figures to not see much of the field this season. There is also Ron Brace but he has been nothing but a bust since he was drafted so I'm done expecting anything from him. Pryor was out for almost all of last season though so it wouldn't be a shock to see Warren out there again this season.

Keep in mind too that New England didn't draft any new defensive linemen (only defensive ends) in the 2012 NFL Draft this past weekend so unless they sign more guys this summer, it looks like this group is set for the most part.

UPDATE 5/1: Other undrafted rookies signed yesterday by the Pats included Iowa offensive lineman Markus Zusevics, Miami defensive lineman Marcus Forston and South Florida guard Jeremiah Warren.

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Hello Gerard Warren My Old Friend

In a move that I predicted when he was cut before the season-opener, defensive tackle Gerard Warren is back with the New England Patriots.

It was such a foregone conclusion that apparently he already had some of his stuff remaining in a locker at Gillette Stadium, talk about job security.

Fellow lineman Landon Cohen was released earlier in the day so naturally reports began to surface almost immediately that Warren was back. He was probably just chilling at Patriots Place, watching movies on Bob Kraft's dime and crushing mad food.

Albert Haynesworth and Mike Wright missed Sunday's loss in Buffalo so who knows what their status will be this week as the team travels to Oakland on Sunday? Regardless, the Pats need more bulk up front to maybe tighten up the front four and prevent running backs (like Darren McFadden and Michael Bush) from gashing them for routinely huge gains.

The other news of the day is that New England will wear their Pat Patriot red throwback uniforms a week from Sunday (for the only time this season) at home against the New York Jets. Love those jerseys, I'm surprised that they're only wheeling them out only once.

Bill Belichick and Co. get back to the practice field tomorrow as they prepare for the Raiders (2-1). Injury updates and other roster moves will be reported as they happen.

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Patriots Add Another Gronk & Linebacker Plus Cut Butler & Warren

The 2011 NFL regular season officially kicks off tomorrow night as the New Orleans Saints visit the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, a truly delicious opener.

There's a full slate of games on Sunday and our own New England Patriots travel to Miami on Monday night in the first part of a Monday Night Football doubleheader (Broncos-Raiders in the dog's breakfast second game).

With that in mind, the clock is running out for the Pats to make roster moves before Monday but they're still putting in full days and nights at Gillette Stadium in anticipation of what should be a great season.

Yesterday, New England released cornerback Darius Butler and signed linebacker A.J. Edds, who was waived by the Dolphins in the preseason.

Today, the Pats released defensive lineman Gerard Warren and made official something that everybody knew this weekend thanks to Twitter and the Gronkowski brothers' love of the social media tool: tight end Dan Gronkowski joins brother Rob as New England signed the former Bronco.

Seeing Butler leave was not a surprise at all and Ryan will have more thoughts on that in a subsequent post. Like Brandon Meriweather before him, his time with Bill Belichick had run out. Drafted only two years ago out of UConn, Butler has plenty of physical talent (who doesn't in the NFL?) but he regressed last season when the team needed him to step up.

This season with Devin McCourty, Leigh Bodden, Kyle Arrington ahead of him, not to mention Antwaun Molden and rookie Ras-I Dowling waiting in the wings, Butler would have never seen the field. The Carolina Panthers picked him up and he could flourish there for a team that has nowhere to go but up.

Bringing in Dan Gronkowski, drafted by the Lions and traded to Denver last September, fills a glaring hole for the Patriots who were only carrying two tight ends (Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez). Dan, who went to the University of Maryland, is known more as a blocking tight end so basically he'll be a younger, cheaper, white Alge Crumpler (without the resume). Plus, the comic possibilities with him and his brotastic brother will be endless. The clubs and bars in New England have been put on notice.

Seeing Warren leave doesn't come as a shock either since the defensive line is one of New England's deepest positions. He is one of Belichick's favorites though so he could be a guy that comes back during the season when somebody gets hurt. You can never have enough big fatsos that know the playbook and can come in with little to no adjustment period.

Finally, Edds is an unknown commodity. He was drafted in the fourth-round in 2010 out of Iowa (teammates with Patriots rookie linebacker Jeff Tarpinian) by Miami but missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in training camp.

For what it's worth, he led the Dolphins with 18 tackles and a sack this preseason. He gives New England more linebacker depth (one of their shakiest positions) and who knows, since Belichick's boy Kirk Ferentz coaches Iowa, maybe he gave him a hot tip on his former player. Edds can play outside and inside linebacker while also being a long snapper. I can guarantee that he'll be all over special teams on Monday (if he suits up) so you can impress your friends by reading this post and dropping a little knowledge about New England's newest anonymous player.

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