The New England Patriots have finalized their initial 53-man roster for the upcoming regular season, and it is one that features several familiar faces, some unexpected depth, and the potential for more moves to come.
A first glance at the team shows that longtime veterans such as Kyle Dugger and Kendrick Bourne have made it through NFL cutdown day unscathed. Despite prior speculation that they might be headed off the team, head coach Mike Vrabel and company decided to keep them around — something
that is also true for the likes of Anfernee Jennings and Marte Mapu.
What all of them have in common is that their future with the team looked murky at one point. And yet, they apparently did enough over the course of training camp and preseason to stay on the roster, at least for the time being.
After all, there will be a lot of moving parts still over the coming days. New England is a realistic candidate to explore the waiver wire or move further pieces around in hopes of fine-tuning the squad with the regular season opener coming up.
For now, however, the Patriots will move forward with the following 53 players on their active roster.
Patriots 53-man roster
Quarterback (2): Drake Maye, Joshua Dobbs
Running back (3): Rhamondre Stevenson, TreVeyon Henderson (KR), Antonio Gibson
Wide receiver (8): Stefon Diggs, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams, Efton Chism III, Javon Baker, Kendrick Bourne
Tight end (3): Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper, Jack Westover (FB)
Offensive tackle (4): Will Campbell, Morgan Moses, Marcus Bryant, Vederian Lowe
Interior offensive line (5): Jared Wilson, Garrett Bradbury, Mike Onwenu, Ben Brown, Caedan Wallace
Interior defensive line (5): Christian Barmore, Milton Williams, Khyiris Tonga, Joshua Farmer, Jeremiah Pharms Jr.
Defensive edge (5): Harold Landry III, K’Lavon Chaisson, Keion White, Elijah Ponder, Anfernee Jennings
Linebacker (4): Robert Spillane,Christian Elliss, Jack Gibbens, Marte Mapu
Cornerback (5): Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis III, Marcus Jones (PR), Alex Austin, D.J. James
Safety (6): Jabrill Peppers, Jaylinn Hawkins, Craig Woodson, Kyle Dugger, Brenden Schooler, Dell Pettus
Specialists (3): Andy Borregales (K), Bryce Baringer (P | H), Julian Ashby (LS)
One of the positions that jumps off the page immediately when looking at the 53-man roster is wide receiver. Besides the aforementioned Kendrick Bourne, New England opted to keep seven other wideouts on the active squad. Among them is Javon Baker, the 2024 fourth-round draft pick who emerged as a core special teams presence over the course of his sophomore training camp.
Up front, the Patriots opted to keep nine players — four at offensive tackle and five on the interior. One of those is Caedan Wallace, a 2024 third-round draft choice who moved from tackle to guard this summer and seemingly convinced the team to keep him around.
On defense, there were few surprises outside of Kyle Dugger and company staying put. The most noteworthy development beyond those decisions might have been safety Marcus Epps asking for his release, but he was no lock to make the 53-man team to begin with.
The Patriots’ initial roster also includes two undrafted free agents. Wide receiver Efton Chism and outside linebacker Elijah Ponder both survived cutdown day after some impressive performances in training camp and preseason: the former led the team with 12 catches, 121 yards and a pair of touchdowns in just 57 exhibition snaps, while the latter established himself as a five-unit special teamer and reserve edge.
As noted above, however, not ever player on the roster should feel safe about his current standing on the team. A position like wide receiver in particular might experience some changes in the coming days.
Patriots cutdown day transactions
Waived/Released (21): OT Demontrey Jacobs, CB Miles Battle, K Parker Romo, CB Brandon Crossley, WR John Jiles, TE C.J. Dippre, S Marcus Epps, DT David Olajiga, OL Mehki Butler, OL Alec Lindstrom, LB Cam Riley, RB JaMycal Hasty, ED Truman Jones, RB Terrell Jennings, TE Gee Scott Jr., OL Cole Strange, OT Jack Conley, WR Jeremiah Webb, DT Jahvaree Ritzie, ED Bradyn Swinson, CB Kobee Minor
Placed on IR (2): WR Ja’Lynn Polk, LB Jahlani Tavai (IR-R)
The Patriots were quite active on Tuesday. Entering the day with 76 players on their active roster, they had to make 23 transactions by 4 p.m. ET to get under the league-mandated 53-man limit. A majority of those moves saw players either being waived or released, with two exceptions: wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk and linebacker Jahlani Tavai were both moved to injured reserve.
While Polk will be out for the remainder of the season, Tavai should return further down the line. He has been designated to be reactivated, meaning he will be eligible to return to the active roster after sitting out at least the first four games of the season.
As for those to get cut, three names stand out. Former first-round draft pick Cole Strange has been let go, as has been 2025 draft selections Bradyn Swinson and Kobee Minor.
