The New England Patriots’ initial 53-man roster of the 2026 season remained intact for fewer than 24 hours. After getting set up on Sunday, the team of head coach Mike Vrabel made multiple changes to it already on Monday: the Patriots claimed tight end Cameron Latu and linebacker Darius Muasau off waivers, released offensive lineman Ben Brown and linebacker K.J. Britt, and moved linebacker Khalil Jacobs and punter Bryce Baringer to injured reserve.
As a consequence of the moves, New England now is
two players short of the league-mandated threshold. How those two open spots will be filled remains to be seen; the expectation is that the team will use the waiver wire to do so.
For now, however, let’s focus on the individual moves and find out what they mean for the Patriots with the big picture in mind.
Tight end logjam
With Hunter Henry and Eli Raridon as the 1-2, the top of the Patriots’ tight end depth chart was set in stone heading into cutdown weekend. The questions began further below, at undrafted rookie Tanner Arkin: has he done enough for the team to consider keeping three players at the position?
Turns out he has, but the addition of Latu might change his outlook again. The 2023 third-round draft choice, after all, is a similar player type capable of serving as an in-line blocker and part-time fullback. This, in turn, creates a bit of a logjam behind Henry and Raridon, and might even prompt the team to reconsider Arkin’s place on the 53-man roster.
New-look backup offensive line
Similar to tight end, the interior offensive line also seemed very much set this summer. Alijah Vera-Tucker, Jared Wilson and Mike Onwenu were the undisputed starters, with Ben Brown a versatile and experienced backup capable of replacing all three of them if injuries forced the Patriots’ hand. Unfortunately for Brown, he himself suffered one in the preseason opener against the Colts.
While that injury did not force him onto injured reserve to start the year, it did prompt the Patriots to invest in veteran O-lineman Greg Van Roten as a replacement. Both Van Roten and Brown made the 53-man team on Sunday, but the latter has now been let go — a surprise, perhaps, given that he had signed a two-year, $5 million extension just last year.
Brown is expected back in some capacity, meaning that his move was more procedural than anything. However, the Patriots are content for now to use Van Roten and recent trade acquisition Walter Rouse as their fourth and fifth options behind Vera-Tucker, Wilson and Onwenu.
Linebacker turnover continues
The Patriots keeping five off-the-ball linebackers on their 53-man team was a slight surprise, but the group has already undergone some serious turnover. Gone are K.J. Britt and Khalil Jacobs, with the former released and the latter moved to injured reserve for at least the first four weeks of the season.
Meanwhile, Darius Muasau was added to the mix to provide extra depth alongside starters Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss as well as sixth-round rookie Namdi Obiazor. Muasau himself was a sixth-round draft choice in 2024, and he saw extensive action off the ball during his two seasons with the Giants: playing 27 total games, he was on the field for a combined 890 defensive snaps.
This as well as his experience with members of the Patriots’ defensive staff such as Zak Kuhr and Shane Bowen made him a prime candidate to add some much-needed experience behind Spillane and Elliss. This also makes clear that team did neither trust Britt nor Obiazor in such a role.
Special teams considerations
The Patriots’ newest additions are not just depth pieces at their listed positions; they also should be capable of filling roles on special teams — a must with only 46 spots available on the game-day roster.
Latu has played 271 kicking game snaps in his career, and was used on all four of the core units — kickoff return, kickoff coverage, punt return, punt coverage — during his 2025 campaign in Philadelphia. The same is true for Muasau, who has 340 snaps on his résumé in the game’s third phase. Unlike his new teammate, he also has played on the field goal and extra point block teams.
Punter job TBD
Bryce Baringer getting hurt in the Patriots’ second preseason game against the Eagles forced third-string quarterback and former high school kicker Behren Morton into the punter role. While Morton remains on the 53-man roster as the third-string QB, it was obvious that his tenure as a specialist was short-lived. In fact, New England signed Matt Haack shortly thereafter to replace Baringer during the final week of preseason.
Despite looking solid, Haack remains unsigned following his release ahead of Sunday’s cutdown deadline. Instead, the Patriots signed veteran Mitch Wishnowsky to their practice squad to possibly fill in for Baringer now that he has been placed on injured reserve.
While Wishnowsky looks like the frontrunner now, Haack could still be added to the mix as well depending on the next few practices. All we and the Patriots now at the moment is that Baringer will not be available for at least the first four weeks of the season.
