The New England Patriots stay busy tweaking the back-end of their roster. On Tuesday, they made a pair of transactions: wide receiver Tejhaun Palmer was claimed off waivers following his release from the Arizona Cardinals, while tight end Jeremiah Franklin was let go in a corresponding move.
Let’s find out what all of that means for Mike Vrabel’s team.
Reactionary move?
Among the “other” wide receivers on the Patriots’ roster, Cameron Dorner had arguably been the best so far this summer. The potential practice squad
candidate was among the absentees from Tuesday’s practice, however, which might have prompted New England to take action.
Time will tell whether or not the two situations are related, but with Dorner absent New England had only three non-roster candidate wideouts available in practice. Fact also is that the two are both similar players in terms of positional usage — both are outside receivers first — and size.
With both now on the roster, the wide receiver group looks as follows:
Wide receiver (12): A.J. Brown (1), Romeo Doubs (87), DeMario Douglas (3), Kayshon Boutte (9), Mack Hollins (13), Kyle Williams (18), Efton Chism III (86), Cameron Dorner (88), Kyle Dixon (83), Nick DeGennaro (23), Kobe Prentice (19), Tejhaun Palmer (—)
IR (2): Jimmy Kibble, Jeremiah Webb
The first seven names on that list are realistically fighting for spots on the 53-man roster. The rest, which now includes Palmer, will be competing for a limited number of practice squad opportunities.
Another high-end athlete
Even though it would never say so and instead go with the old “we’re looking for good football players” adage, there is no denying New England’s current regime has a type: it wants to improve the roster’s athleticism through its acquisitions, and Palmer very much fits the bill. Like Monday free agency signing Casey Rogers, the newest Patriot is a high-end athlete.
Entering the third season of his NFL career, Palmer has not yet been able to take full advantage of his size/speed combination. The 2024 sixth-round draft pick has played just six non-preseason snaps in his lone in-game appearance over the last two years, and has no statistics to his name.
Whether his fortunes will change in Foxborough can be questioned, but that does not mean he has no skill especially athletically.
Tight end picture clearing up
The second shoe to drop on Tuesday was the release of backup tight end Jeremiah Franklin, an undrafted rookie tight end out of Boston College who just joined the team ahead of training camp. With Franklin out of the picture, the Patriots are now down to six tight ends.
Tight end (6): Hunter Henry (85), Eli Raridon (82), Tanner Arkin (84), Jack Westover (37), C.J. Dippre (81), Mitch Van Vooren (46)
After nine training camp practices, there appears to be a clear pecking order at the position. Hunter Henry is the undisputed TE1, as he has been since arriving in 2021; third-round rookie Eli Raridon is the second option and a potential heir apparent to Henry; undrafted rookie Tanner Arkin, one of the surprises of camp, is the current TE3 due to his abilities as a blocker.
Outside of those three, the group has been quiet this summer. In fact, on Tuesday, only one of that depth trio — Mitch Van Vooren — was even present at practice: C.J. Dippre remains on the physically unable to perform list, while TE/FB hybrid Jack Westover did not participate.
No cap changes
Releasing Franklin creates no sudden cap charge for the Patriots, and neither does claiming Palmer off waivers. The former was on a minimum deal for a player of his experience, as was the latter. And with no guarantees embedded into either pact, the moves involving those do not leave a trace on New England’s salary cap.
Just like on Monday, cap expert Miguel Benzan has the Patriots $33.7 million under the salary cap.
