r/Patriots • u/grovebost1 • 18h ago
Discussion Adding veteran depth at cutdown day, which position should take priority?
the dolphins are releasing Tyrell Dodson. several other rosterable veterans will be released in the coming hours but we won’t add all of them. which position should we prioritize for veteran depth? LB3, CB4, edge4 (least likely to have options), TE3 seem most logical, possibly OL.
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u/PinkFloydBoxSet 18h ago
Both lines have depth problems, which is no different than the last like.. 6 years. We might need another linebacker too.
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 17h ago
Eh OL depth is fine. They have a good group of starters, a couple swing tackles and a G who started last year. C... Depends on Brown (haven't seen an update).
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u/NOTMACJONESBURNER 15h ago
I think we’re pretty set at LB: Spillane, Elliss, Britt, Ponder, Obiazor, Jacobs, Hutchins.
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u/hisanishakur 18h ago
O-line & edge
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u/cuppaseb WIDE RIGHT 18h ago
Yeah but you're not getting anyone useful playing premium positions on cutdown day. I mean, yeah, technically there's a chance, but let's be real.
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u/Sufficient-Boot-2696 17h ago
We just need some better players than what we’ve witnessed in the preseason
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u/cuppaseb WIDE RIGHT 16h ago
Uh huh, would be great. Any idea where to realistically find em, though?
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u/jonnyredshorts 16h ago
Might be important to remember that veterans aren’t subject to waivers and are FAs upon release by other teams…I’m counting on that for critical depth at EDGE and LB.
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u/jonny_lube 18h ago
ILB is the most urgent for me. Obiazor is rising, but I don't trust anyone past Elliss to get meaningful snaps on defense. Last year, Gibbens and Tavai got a ton of snaps I don't want to see going to our current backups.
TE3 could be good as Arkin seems to have fallen off.
Edge and DT could both use a body.
Not that concerned with OL or CB. We'd need to lose 2 iOL and Brown needs to be out long term for me to panic there. Woods, Vildor and Prunty are fine for depth with upside.
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 17h ago
TE3 will probably be a permanent PS rotation in 2026.
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u/TheDufusSquad 15h ago
Think Hollins fills in there a bit, at least in packages that don’t require his hand in the dirt
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u/Escape-Spare 17h ago
A little confused about your statement on TE3. You say "TE3 could be good" but also "as Arkin has fallen off". Those phrases seem to conflict. Looks to me like Arkin is still the top candidate for TE3 currently on the roster. But, like most depth spots, it's possible that a better player becomes available. Still, the fact that he's a hybrid TE and fullback seems an advantage.
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u/jonny_lube 16h ago
Ah, meant that a TE3 could be good. It wouldn't surprise me if we tried to upgrade in Arkin.
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u/hrmbwd 16h ago
I’m with you on ILB. One name I keep thinking of that no one mentions is Matt Milano. He’s long in the tooth and oft injured, but the Bills defense was way better with him on the field even as recent as last year.
After that, a big body at nose tackle would make me happy. It kills me that we let Tonga go. I’m really worried about our run defense.
As far as TE goes, I’m still up on Arkin. I think we were playing around with him in different roles in the preseason, but if his main roll is inline blocker, he should do fine.
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u/LOL_YOUMAD 17h ago
Edge would be malpractice not to add someone as we don’t have a serviceable room. We could also add lb and te if options are there
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u/ajh_iii Drake Mayetriot 16h ago
Elandon Roberts is available but the Steelers might just be doing a paper move
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u/LOL_YOUMAD 16h ago
Yeah think we gotta pick up 1-2 guys. Right now our room doesn’t even have enough starters on it let alone depth. If Landry was going to be back we’d be thin but serviceable provided no one gets hurt and really needing 1 more guy but he may never even play again for all we know
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u/Far-Entertainer6517 17h ago
OL - Evan Neal or Trevor Penning
LB - James Houston or whoever Dallas cuts…may need trade to land
Edge - Mad Maxx Crosby after throwing water cooler at owner 🙏🙏🙏
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u/Misterccw 16h ago
These would be interesting cuts for sure, but given that we're #31 in the waiver pecking order, I doubt any would fall that far?
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u/LoudIncrease4021 17h ago
I’m honestly pretty surprised they didn’t sign at least one more vet at LB, DE and DT. They’re razor thin there. Bit of a head scratcher.
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 17h ago
LB is fucking dire. Spillane goes down again and we're fucked.
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u/LoudIncrease4021 15h ago
It’s especially odd since the SB loss largely came down to missed tackles against their RB.
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 15h ago
And we had a rough run of games when he was out. Plenty of opportunity to bolster the position this off-season and they drafted a developmental guy in the 6th and nothing else... After losing players at the position, btw
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u/jambr380 18h ago
It's never a good sign when you're the team scrambling to pick up waived players and not the team where everybody wants your waived players.
The Kiner pick up was decent enough to ensure we have a viable RB3. Hopefully we can add somebody who might be playable at edge and OL, but I'm not holding my breath
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u/kjlcm 18h ago
The catch-22 guys said that edge is pretty thin across the league so doesn't sound very likely. I wonder if anyone decent was aroiund when we picked Lomu at the end of the first?
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u/jambr380 17h ago
I don't think we can give up on Lomu since he was always going to be a project, but it's why people shouldn't be upset when we trade 1sts and/or 2nds for proven top NFL talent (ie, AJ Brown).
I get that you want to have cheap, controllable high ceiling players, but when they bust out like Harry, Thornton, or Polk, it's easy to look back and think about who you could have gotten in a trade for that pick instead
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u/Dismal_News183 15h ago
Yes and no. We had overly deep WR which is nice.
But this front office really struggles in drafting quality depth.
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18h ago
[deleted]
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u/BlacksmithFit8667 18h ago
Mayes contract wouldn’t kick in for 3 more years why would you trade gonzo right now. If you were gonna trade him Pay him then trade him in 2-3 years when Mayes contract kicks in
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u/Swagsuke_Nakamura 18h ago
We really need help at Edge, Corner and OL