Every Year At Cutdown Day, We're Reminded That The NFL Is The Coldest Sport Of Them All

At this point, basically nothing surprises me when it comes to the Patriots trimming their roster down to 53 players before the start of every regular season.

Still, even though we all saw Dan Koppen's release coming (he has nothing left), Brian Hoyer getting let go was a surprise and saying goodbye to Deion Branch was borderline shocking. Additionally, Jeff Demps was placed on IR and he's not on the 53-man roster which means he can't return this season under the new rule.

First things first, with Koppen and Branch gone, now Tom Brady is the only Patriot left who started for them in Super Bowl XXXVIII and XXXIX (pours out Sam Adams in the gutter). Clearly Branch had lost a step or two the last few seasons but I think we all figured that after the Pats let Jabar Gaffney and Donte' Stallworth walk earlier this preseason, that he had won the No. 3 wide receiver spot. Turns out, that position is basically irrelevant since Julian Edelman will fill it followed by Matthew Slater.

There is always the chance that Gaffney or Branch could return later in the season since New England wouldn't have to pay them as much or God forbid Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Edelman, etc get hurt.

Seeing Hoyer leave isn't a big deal in itself, he is at best average but it means at least for now that Ryan Mallett is Brady's backup quarterback. Gulp. Have you seen Ryan Mallett play football? He looked woefully overmatched in preseason games against scrubs.

Speaking of nobodies, these are the rest of the players released by the Patriots to get to 53: safety Sergio Brown, guard Derek Dennis, receiver Jeremy Ebert, receiver Jesse Holley, fullback Eric Kettani, safety James Ihedigbo, offensive lineman Matt Kopa, linebacker Niko Koutouvides, linebacker Aaron Lavarias, defensive back Derrick Martin, tight end Alex Silvestro, linebacker Jeff Tarpinian, receiver Kerry Taylor, tight end Tyler Urban, offensive lineman Dustin Waldron, guard Jeremiah Warren, offensive tackle Darrion Weems and defensive back Malcolm Williams.

New England is actually down to 52 players so expect them to make at least one roster move and claim someone off waivers that was released by another NFL team.

Almost all of those guys are what I would describe as August heroes, they got a majority of the time in preseason games but you'd be in big trouble if they actually had to see the field in the regular season. Of that list, Ihedigbo is probably the biggest name since he played 67% of the defensive snaps in 2011, not to mention plenty of special teams. Here's hoping the UMass product and Northampton native finds a new NFL home. He proved that he can definitely play in the league.

UPDATE 9/1: Patriots defensive back Ross Ventrone received an injury settlement and was released from injured reserve on Friday, a source confirmed.

Since the injury settlement occurred within five days of being placed on injured reserve, Ventrone is eligible to return to New England later this season.

Ventrone can return six weeks after the length of his injury settlement, which was unspecified.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

Pats Re-Sign James Ihedigbo, Immediately Place Him On Injury Report For Week 1

On Friday afternoon, the Patriots re-signed safety James Ihedigbo, who had a solid first season in New England.

The UMass-Amherst product and Northampton, MA native was signed fairly late in training camp last season but ended up playing way more than expected due to the surprising releases of Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders.

He started in 12 of 16 regular season games and all three postseason games. Ihedigbo put up a career-high 72 tackles with one pass defensed and four special teams tackles. He added 20 tackles and one sack in the playoffs.

It was easy to laugh about his weekly shoulder injuries, he went down in almost every game but to his credit, he usually returned to the field. If nothing else he provides depth to a position that finally has some talent: Patrick Chung, free-agent Steve Gregory and second-round draft choice Tavon Wilson. Other safeties include Josh Barrett, Will Allen, Sergio Brown and rookie Nate Ebner.

As I said last season when they picked him up, it's always cool to see a local guy make it on the Patriots since lord knows Massachusetts (and UMass for that matter) doesn't produce many NFL players.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

A True Masshole Leaves The Jets To Join The Patriots

The Patriots picked up some local talent today, something that doesn't happen every day since New England is not exactly akin to California, Florida or Texas in terms of producing NFL players.

None of the details have come out yet but former Jets safety James Ihedigbo tweeted tonight that "Thanks to #jetsfans for all the love an support greatly appreciate it's on to a new chapter.....I'm Officially a New England Patriot!!!!!!"

He graduated from Amherst Regional High School and attended college right down the road at the UMass-Amherst (class of 2008). He was an unrestricted free agent after spending the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Jets.

Over the last two seasons he has played in 29 games, accumulating 41 tackles and five sacks.

With injuries to Bret Lockett and James Sanders, the Pats needed more healthy bodies to join safeties Brandon Meriweather, Patrick Chung and Sergio Brown.

Off the top of my head on a Friday night, I believe Ihedigbo is the first local product on New England since Doug Flutie (Natick, MA) a few years ago and all he contributed was that stupid drop kick in that meaningless win over Miami. Jermaine Wiggins (East Boston, MA) had a big impact on the 2001-02 Super Bowl team as well.

Needless to say, it's been too long since a true Masshole suited up for the Patriots. I'm going to assume that Ihedigbo has been a fan since birth (like us all) so he must be pumped to switch sides on the Patriots-Jets rivalry and join former teammates Shaun Ellis and Danny Woodhead.

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet