It did not take the New England Patriots long to suffer their first season-ending injury of training camp. On Sunday, after he had suffered what looked like a non-serious injury in the previous day’s practice, Jeremiah Webb was placed on the injured reserve list.
The move puts a premature end to the wide receiver’s sophomore season. What else does it mean for the Patriots, though? Let’s find out.
Second shoe dropped
When the news broke on Saturday that Gabe Jacas had agreed to his rookie contract with the Patriots, the clock
started ticking. Once he had officially signed the deal, the Patriots needed to make space for him on their active 90-man offseason roster (which actually stands at 91 due to the presence of roster-exempt offensive tackle Lorenz Metz).
They did so by moving Webb to IR. That transaction was already preceded by New England already bolstering its wide receiver group through claiming Kobe Prentice off waivers on Saturday.
WR room back to 11
Prentice joining the Patriots on Saturday temporarily increased the number of wide receivers on the Patriots’ roster to 12. With Webb now on injured reserve, it is back down to 11:
W. de receiver (11): A.J. Brown (1), Romeo Doubs (87), DeMario Douglas (3), Kayshon Boutte (9), Mack Hollins (13), Kyle Williams (18), Efton Chism III (86), Kyle Dixon (83), Nick DeGennaro (23), Cameron Dorner (88), Kobe Prentice (19)
IR (2): Jeremiah Webb, Jimmy Kibble
Webb now joins Jimmy Kibble on injured reserve; the undrafted rookie was waived with an injury designation on the eve of training camp and subsequently reverted to IR after going unclaimed. In total, the Patriots now have three players on IR: Webb, Kibble and tight end Julian Hill.
Limited impact
Webb was one of the feel-good stories of last year’s training camp. Signed as a rookie free agent, who had joined the Berlin Thunder of the European League of Football even before the 2025 NFL Draft had taken place, he delivered multiple quality performances in training camp and preseason to earn himself a spot on New England’s practice squad for the 2025 season.
Entering his second year in the system, however, his outlook was murky. The Patriots had invested some serious resources in their wide receiver group over the offseason, and Webb found himself facing an uphill battle for the roster. The practice squad was not a given either considering that the team had also added four undrafted rookies to the mix as well.
From a pure football perspective, therefore, Webb’s season ending in late July is unlikely to have a major impact on the fortunes of New England’s passing game in 2026.
Cap changes
Moving Webb to injured reserve actually has no impact on New England’s salary cap at the moment. With a salary of $885,000 and no guarantees in his deal, he did not count against the team’s books under the Top 51 rule. However, his split salary of $515,000 will become relevant once said rule is lifted before the regular season begins.
Even with Webb’s move off the active roster not directly changing the Patriots’ cap yet, it looks different today than it did 24 hours ago. The reason for that is Jacas signing his rookie contract: his combined cap number of $1.57 million does qualify for Top 51 status and therefore pushes a lower-salaried player — there are actually six that have identical $1.08 million cap hits — from the list. This results in a net cap space loss of $498,994.
Edge questions remain
Let’s briefly close on Jacas. While him signing his rookie contract is without doubt a positive development, the questions about New England’s edge position remain now that he has been placed on NFI. With him and Harold Landry both on injury lists now, two of the projected top three players at the position — all but free agency pickup Dre’Mont Jones — are now sidelined for medical reasons.
Obviously, Jacas and Landry can both return at any point. How quickly they are brought up to speed once that happens, however, is unclear.
