The New England Patriots have made huge roster cuts in addition to the rest of the NFL. While the team is under new leadership with Jerod Mayo, the team cut a bunch of players that were drafted by the previous leadership Bill Belichick. The team cut many of the players drafted in the previous era, and on Tuesday they cut one of Belichicks last draft picks.
New England Patriots Waive Kicker Chad Ryland
Chad Ryland was a fourth-round pick for Belichick, and for a kicker that is a super high draft pick. Ryland only made it one season with the team after a mostly down rookie year. Ryland was spectacular in College but he could not seem to hack it in the NFL.
This will go down as another miss by Bill in the draft, as in his last 5 years with the Patriots, the team drafted very poorly. Ryland may have been a part of why the team went with a new head coach and a new era for the franchise.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the team is waiving him on Tuesday. The Patriots had brought in Joey Slye to compete with Ryland for who would be the starting kicker this season, and now it is clear that Slye won the job.
Ryland had one moment in his rookie year that was amazing, where he hit a long walk-off field goal for the win against the Denver Broncos, but other than that, he was mediocre at best. He finished the season going 16-of-25 on field goals, but he was specifically poor when it came to attempts that were between 30 and 49 yards. For those he went 10-of-17, and was 24-of-25 extra point tries. All of this, and training camp this year was enough to part ways with Ryland after just one season.
Ryland was by far the best college kicker of his year and it is quite strange that he had such a major falloff in the NFL. He will probably get another chance.
New England Patriots Full Roster Cuts And Major Moves
Here is the full list of roster cuts that the team made on Tuesday:
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- LS Tucker Addington
- WR Kawaan Baker
- DE William Bradley-King
- DT Josiah Bronson
- LB Steele Chambers
- RB Deshaun Fenwick
- RB Kevin Harris
- CB Azizi Hearn
- OT Zuri Henry
- DE Christian McCarroll
- TE La’Michael Pettway
- DL Mike Purcell
- DT Sam Roberts
- K Chad Ryland
- C Charles Turner
- CB Mikey Victor
- TE Jacob Warren
- TE Mitch Wilcox
- QB Bailey Zappe
The final spot on the list, Bailey Zappe, is also fascinating. He should get another opportunity in the league elsewhere. For the Patriots, they just had too many quarterbacks in the room and they were bound to cut Zappe after drafting two quarterbacks this year.
Additionally to the roster cuts, two key players were placed on the PUP lost to start the season. Per Jackson Loshocko:
Kendrick Bourne and Cole Strange are recovering from season-ending injuries sustained a season ago.
Bourne suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 8. The Patriots placed him on the active/PUP list before the start of training camp, and he hasn’t practiced. Strange suffered a season-ending patellar tendon tear in Week 15, and he started training camp on the active/PUP list and hasn’t practiced as well.
Both players aren’t ready.
The team will be looking to start a comprehensive rebuild this season, and we will find out soon fi they are on the right track.
Related: New England Patriots: Placed 2 Offensive Starters on PUP List
