The New England Patriots made a change to their 53-man roster on Tuesday, releasing outside linebacker Jose Ramirez. The 27-year-old will now hit the waiver wire and if going through it unclaimed could return via the team’s practice squad.
For now, however, let’s assess what letting him go means from a big-picture point of view.
Edge turnover continues
The Patriots originally brought Ramirez in via their practice squad in early September, and decided to promote him to their active roster later that same month. That particular
move came shortly before the team decided to place fellow edge Quintayvious Hutchins on injured reserve.
Hutchins, who had suffered a knee injury in Week 2, has to remain on IR for at least two more games. Meanwhile, team captain Harold Landry is now eligible to return from the physically unable to perform list even though he has yet to make his practice debut this season.
Regardless of his and Hutchins’ status, waiving Ramirez means more turnover at a position that has faced questions about depth going all the way back to the offseason. At the moment, said depth consists of Dre’Mont Jones, Elijah Ponder and Gabe Jacas on the active roster, and Xavier Holmes and Benton Whitley on the practice squad.
Quiet tenure over
Ramirez getting released does not come as a particular surprise, especially considering that the Patriots might need some roster spots soon (more on that in a second). His tenure on the 53-man squad, after all, was relatively quiet.
In two games, he played 30 total snaps. All eight of his defensive snaps came late in a blowout loss to Jacksonville in Week 3, while the other 22 were spent on special teams against both the Jaguars and Bills. He registered one kicking game tackle along the way, and saw time on four special teams units, primarily on kickoff coverage and the two return teams.
Ramirez wasn’t actively bad, but he was a depth player in the truest sense of the word. Apparently, the team feels as if said depth is better allocated elsewhere.
Second open roster spot
Probably the biggest takeaway from the move is that it gives the Patriots two open spots on their 53-man roster at a time when several players have become eligible to be activated from various injury lists.
The aforementioned Harold Landry, who remains on PUP, is just one of five players in the same boat. Safety Brenden Schooler (NFI), offensive tackle Marcus Bryant (IR), linebacker Khalil Jacobs (IR) and punter Bryce Baringer (IR) are also now cleared to return. Schooler seems like a safe bet to be brought back fairly recently, which would fill one of those two spots.
As for the other, it probably wouldn’t be used on Baringer because who needs two punters? If he is activated, it likely will signal the end of the road for stand-in punter Mitch Wishnowsky. This means that Landry, Bryant and Jacobs are likely to eventually fill the other opening.
Of course, the Patriots could also opt to sign somebody else — especially with Mack Hollins’ injury outlook TBD — or leave one spot open through Week 5 and with a potential A.J. Brown activation on the horizon.
