The New England Patriots had 17 players in for tryouts during their rookie minicamp over the weekend, and they ended up signing two of them to their active roster. Defensive edge Xavier Holmes and safety Peter Manuma, both of whom undrafted rookie free agents, are now officially the 90th and 91st players on the team.
Let’s take a closer look at what they bring to the table and what their signings in general mean for the Patriots.
Safety depth
While the hope is to find the next Malcolm Butler from the pool of tryout
players, fact is that those signings start their NFL careers at the very bottom of the pro football hierarchy. Holmes and Manuma are no different, and find themselves in the very bowels of New England’s roster.
That being said, the latter in particular could be in a position to make a push for the roster when looking at the current safety depth chart:
Safety (7): Kevin Byard (31), Craig Woodson (4), Dell Pettus (24), Brenden Schooler (41), John Saunders Jr. (23), Mike Brown (33), Peter Manuma (34)
Out of the current group, Kevin Byard and Craig Woodson are roster locks as is All-Pro special teamer Brenden Schooler. That leaves one or two spots up for grabs, and Manuma’s athletic profile (6.53 Relative Athletic Score), résumé (49 games, two-time team captain) and ball production at Hawaii (5 INTs, 3 FFs) show a player who very well has the tools to compete.
Speed and versatility
The late rounds of the draft and subsequent rookie free agency are typically not the place to bring well-rounded prospects into the fold. Instead, teams go hunting for traits.
In Manuma’s case, that trait is speed. The Hawaii product ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash in the pre-draft process, indicative of the range needed to play deep safety in the NFL. Whether or not the 6-foot-0, 205-pounder will actually do so remains to be seen; he played not just as a free safety but also regularly moved closer to the line of scrimmage or into the slot.
In addition, Manuma also brings special teams experience — something that is also true with Holmes.
Edge depth
As noted above, Manuma seems to be in a fairly decent position as far as pushing for a spot on the roster or practice squad is concerned this summer. There are more questions about Holmes in that regard, in part because of the depth ahead of him:
Defensive edge (8): Harold Landry III (2), Dre’Mont Jones (5), Gabe Jacas (50), Elijah Ponder (91), Bradyn Swinson (43), Jesse Luketa (42), Quintayvious Hutchins (45), Xavier Holmes (58)
There are eight edges competing for what might not be more than four spots on the team, and three of those positions are already occupied by roster locks Harold Landry, Dre’Mont Jones and Gabe Jacas. Holmes beating out the others could happen — any given Sunday and all that — but the odds are against him relative to Manuma at safety.
The numbers play a role in this, but so does his profile. He had decent production in college, but lacks any standout traits in terms of size or speed.
Local ties
Before he ended his college career with 14 games, six sacks, a fumble recovery, an interception and a blocked punt at James Madison in 2025, Holmes spent four years at Maine. During that time, he played 25 games and notched 8.5 sacks as well as five takeaways (1 INT, 4 FRs).
Holmes is one of three rookies now on the Patriots’ roster with ties to New England. Seventh-round edge Quintayvious Hutchins played at Boston College, while UDFA interior offensive lineman Jacob Rizy was a two-time All-Ivy League selection during his four-year stint at Harvard before transferring to Florida State.
Cap impact
Even though the full details of their contracts are not yet available, it is a safe assumption that neither Holmes nor Manuma will have much of an impact on the Patriots’ current salary cap. Under the NFL’s Top-51 rule only the 51 highest cap hits are actually counted during the offseason, and the two newest signees ending up in that position is highly unlikely.
For starters, their respective three-year UDFA deals come with a base salary of only $885,000 in 2026 — an insignificant number for Top-51 consideration. They could leave an impact on New England’s cap in the form of guaranteed money, but given that they were signed as tryouts any guarantees will likely be minimal as well.
Long story short, signing Holmes and Manuma is unlikely to create a major if any cap hit.
Roster full
As noted above, Holmes and Manuma are the 90th and 91st players on the Patriots’ roster now. Teams, of course, are only allowed to carry 90 players during the offseason, but German-born offensive tackle Lorenz Metz is exempt; he can participate in all team activities but is currently not counted against the 90-man limit.
This means that New England now has every spot on the roster filled. Of course, that is not saying much: last year, the team made six further transactions between filling up its roster after the draft and the start of training camp in late July. Don’t be surprised if some moves happen, beyond the big one all of New England will be keeping an eye on come June.
