Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Surprise: Patriots’ Unpredictable Cutdown Day | Forecast: More Change!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pats released their initial 53-man roster, and there were plenty of surprises. That's where we start on this episode of Lockdown Patriots. You are Locked-on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts Network, your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans? I'm your host Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, also host of the Everything Pats, podcast, co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels and a sports talk show host veteran. On today's episode, I'll give you some names of guys released elsewhere that I think would upgrade this Pat's roster. Also, Cut Down Day was another reminder of the miserable failures that led this program to such terrible football. But first, let's talk surprises. We appreciate

Starting point is 00:00:53 you joining the show, making us your first listen. And for being in every day, the Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner, the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. And today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Football season is around the corner. Visit the Fandul app today and start planning your futures bets now. Let's get this out of the way. When we talk about Cut Down Day and the week or two that follows Cutdown Day, we have to understand and embrace the idea that there is fluidity.

Starting point is 00:01:25 Lots of fluidity. What we talk about regarding the initial 53-man roster might not stand the test of time and probably won't stand the test of time. Roster changes will happen. But interesting decisions have already been made. And they had to be made by 4 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon. Let's start here with the wide.

Starting point is 00:01:55 receivers. We've talked about the wide receivers leading into camp, throughout camp. How many wide receivers would the Patriots keep? Would it be six? Would it be seven? No, it would be eight. Eight wide receivers made the initial 53 man roster. That is a monstrous number. I had them keeping seven, but they actually kept eight. J. Von Baker, wondering if he's on, he's on the initial 53 man. And, you know, when you watch Baker this preseason, I don't think he's on this roster initially because of his great receiving skill. Javon Baker is on this team, at least for now, because of his work in special teams, because he proved to the team that he can be a gunner, because he made two, three, four impact plays during the preseason on special teams. And that matters. Would Baker be on this team if Marcellus Dile didn't go down with a torn ACL?

Starting point is 00:02:53 Probably not. Marcella Stile was that gunner. But Marcella Stile is gone, done for the season. You need somebody to fill his spot, and that somebody has been J. Vaughn Baker. And he's taken pride on special teams, which does mean something to Mike Frable and company. I am not surprised that Jvon Baker is on this roster.

Starting point is 00:03:16 I had him on this roster. Also not a surprise is that Efton Chisholm, the third, is on this roster. Efton Chisholm made this team during that Minnesota preseason game. There's no doubt in my mind. We talked about it then. I'll just follow up now. He was a roster lock for the initial 53 man. As soon as what we saw happened, happened in Minnesota.

Starting point is 00:03:41 He dominated that second quarter, that incredible stretch of football during that drive, all the things he showed, the hands, the focus, the toughness, The finish, as Rabel loves to say, the fit in the McDaniels offense. No surprise, Efton Chisholm III is on this initial 53-man roster. But I am surprised that Kendrick Bourne is also on this 53 man. Kendrick Bourne has not played in weeks, went down during that scrimmage, that team scrimmage that they had at Gillette Stadium for the season ticket holders. He went down that night on that Friday night.

Starting point is 00:04:23 weeks ago. And Kendrick Bourne has still not been out there. We saw him travel with the team to the Giants preseason game, but he has not been out there. So what is the injury? What's the extent of the injury? Is Kendrick Bourne going to eventually find himself on the injured reserve with the designation for a return? Or is this just games being played roster manipulation by the Patriots because they know they're going to have to trade somebody. And Kendrick Bourne might be that guy. And maybe they feel like if they hold on to Kendrick Bourne just a little bit longer, it will make other teams believe, hey, the Patriots might actually bring seven guys or eight guys to week one at that position. Maybe we do actually

Starting point is 00:05:12 have to give up a pick. Patriots are sitting back saying, if you think we're not going to, you know, take Kendrick Bourne seriously and we're just going to cut him willy-nilly, that's not what we're going to do. And you might think that, but no. So if you want him, you've got to trade an asset for him. It could be as simple as that. Maybe this is just a manipulation at that position for this roster because you want Kendrick-Born to be traded for an asset. And so far, teams are waiting and waiting and waiting. And you want to call their bluff. I think it's, obvious. It's a vulnerable spot on this roster. I would not be surprised if six guys end up being on the roster for week one against the Raiders and two of the guys that are currently

Starting point is 00:05:59 on this roster are gone. I wouldn't be surprised if Kendrick Bornish traded. I wouldn't be surprised if the team found somebody who could play the gunner and they say, thanks, but no thanks. We're going to release Jayvon Baker and maybe he finds himself on the practice squad. None of that would surprise me at all. Speaking of surprises, I was surprised by this. It came out late in the day. Braden Swinson, your fifth round pick out of LSU, teammate of Will Campbell. A lot of people talked about Swinson. A lot of people were excited about Swinson that the Patriots were able to land him in the fifth round. Many came out. Many pundits said that Brayden Swinson was a steal for the Pats in the fifth round. Well, Braden Swinson was cut. He did not make the initial

Starting point is 00:06:41 53 man roster. And when you look at Swinson, maybe you just say to yourself, yes, he has that ceiling as a pass rusher but he doesn't have the overall game just yet and we're looking at a position defensive end it was a stiff competition at defensive end and edge it really was did we know that caliban chase on was going to be as good as he was during this camp no obvious making of the roster for him and then you look at elijah ponder undrafted free agent and that's really the guy that I think you look at here. Because Ponder's UDFA, Swinson, fifth round pick, and instead of just going with the guy that you drafted in the fifth round over the guy who is the UDFA, the Patriots

Starting point is 00:07:32 picked the UDFA. And this is not surprising. Ponder was on my roster, my final roster that I put out there last Friday on the Everything Pats live stream. And after Mike Smith talked about Ponder, we had the conversation. As soon as I saw the positional coach ranting and raving about how great Ponder was, he was on this roster. So Ponder makes it. Swinton doesn't.

Starting point is 00:07:57 Anthony Jennings makes the initial 53 man. I don't think the Patriots were getting the phone calls that they wanted about Jennings. And Jennings, frankly, is too good of a football player. He's a bona fide NFL guy. He might not be the perfect fit, but I don't think he's somebody just throw away. So Jennings makes it. And then Marte Mapu, who had a good game against the Giants, he makes it. Marte Mapu's on this team.

Starting point is 00:08:25 And Mapu's interesting as a linebacker, that transition he's making, his ability to cover is, I think, important. Jelani Tavai, I are designated for a return. Final surprise here. Six safeties. And we're including Brennan Schooler because he can play safety. Kyle Dugger makes the initial 53. And that, to me, is not necessarily a surprise. The money, the fact that, you know, he had a good game against the Giants to finish out his preseason.

Starting point is 00:08:58 He has been very professional handling his situation, but mostly it's the money. If teams were willing to gobble up more of the cash that is guaranteed to Dugger, he's gone. I think he's traded. And Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported just a little while ago saying, yeah, There were multiple offers, but the teams that the Patriots were speaking with about Dugger, they weren't willing to, you know, take as much money back as the Patriots wanted them to. The teams that were looking to trade for Dugger wanted the Patriots to take most of his contract so they could get Dugger 25 cents on the dollar.

Starting point is 00:09:37 And you might as well keep Dugger for now and see if that changes. Maybe somebody gets hurt. Maybe a team says, you know what, let's go get Dugger. The surprise to me was that not only Dugger making the roster, but also Del Pettis. And I did not think that Pettis would be on this roster if Dugger was on this roster because of the insurance that Schooler brings to this team, the depth of that position. So I'm surprised both guys made it. And that tells me that the coaching staff, the front office, they love Pettis. They love him enough to keep him on this 53.

Starting point is 00:10:12 and if they truly believed in Dugger, I don't think both guys are on. So Pettis, he's on this roster because the front office and the coaching staff are just waiting for Dugger to move on somehow, some way. The Pats could go out and upgrade their roster in the next 24 hours. We will give you some interesting names next

Starting point is 00:10:36 as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is presented by Yahoo! Fantasy. The NFL season is right around the corner, and you can feel the buzz. Fantasy football season is here. Everyone's researching and drafting and building their championship squads. If you haven't joined a league yet, now's the time, and it's all happening on Yahoo Fantasy.

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Starting point is 00:12:22 Again, that's Lockdownpodcasts.com slash survey. You can also find the link in the show notes, and we can't say it enough, but thank you. Truly thank you for helping us out. the Patriots are fourth on the waiver wire, just like a draft. So whoever's available, the Patriots have the fourth pick in essence. If the top three teams don't want anybody, the Patriots have the first priority, but they've got the fourth overall. And when you combine the fact that they are fourth on the waiver wire,

Starting point is 00:12:58 and Mike Vrable has said multiple times over the past several days, that there are going to be changes made, to this roster, you know what I'm expecting? Changes to be made to this roster. It just makes sense. They are going to add. They're going to go out and they're going to add. I don't know if they're going to be trades. I don't know if they're going to be waiver claims. I don't know if we're going to have both. But I would be absolutely stunned if there are zero moves over the next 36 to 48 hours by the Patriots front office. I would be stunned. So let me give you some names of guys that are available or could be available that I

Starting point is 00:13:39 would be interested in. And we start with Cam Robinson, former offensive linemen of the Jaguars, former offensive linemen of the Minnesota Vikings, and he is reportedly available. Adam Schaefter posted a name to watch. Texans left tackle Cam Robinson, who the team has discussed trading. Rookie Ariante Ursuli, somebody we talked about during draft time has impressed this summer and looks ready to man the Texans left tackle position. I would be interested in Cam Robinson. I would even be willing to give up a sixth or seventh round pick if I had to. Marcus Bryant's been a great story during this camp, but he is a seventh round pick.

Starting point is 00:14:20 He has seen as mostly a raw tackle prospect with some potential. If you read about Marcus Bryant's camp and you listen to guys like Evan Lazar and Greg Bedard, guys that really study offensive line play, they will tell you that Brian's pad level is uneven. There's things he has to work on. And right now, Bryant is your top, your top reserve at offensive tackle, which to me is concerning. I love him as a developmental prospect. I wouldn't mind if he was your fourth or fifth tackle. But he right now is your top option if either Moses or Campbell goes down. We don't want that.

Starting point is 00:15:05 At least speaking for myself, I don't want that. So is he ready? I'm not buying that he's ready, day one. I would like for him to be in the oven a little bit longer. And then you've got Vinarian Lowe. And Lowe has been riddled with injuries the last couple of years. Can he stay healthy? and then when he's out there playing, he has been inconsistent.

Starting point is 00:15:28 At times, Vadarian Lowe will show you that he can be a somewhat competent offensive tackle. But other times, he will be a complete disaster, losing focus, getting blown by. And so between Bryant, to me, maybe not being ready for prime time, so to speak, and Vadarian Lowe's injury and inconsistency history, I would love. I would love for the Patriots to find some offensive tackle insurance. And I'm not telling you, Cam Robinson is the answer to all of the problems. But I do think to have somebody experienced who has played at a high level during his NFL career at times to have him there as that insurance. And we know that the Patriots reportedly were interested in Cam Robinson.

Starting point is 00:16:18 They did not want to offer him as much money as the Texans offered him. Maybe they go back now. Second bite of the apple, Doug Marone, was in Jacksonville when Cam Robinson was there and drafted. So Cam Robinson is a name I would be interested in. Somebody else that would draw my interest is Greg Dulcich. And you might remember the name because the Patriots just played Greg Dulcich and the Giants last week. Dulcich is one of those guys that you could look at and say, yeah, he'd be a fit as a N3. We're not super comfortable with just Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper being our main guys here.

Starting point is 00:17:01 Yes, Jack Westover made the roster. Do I think he is super secure? No, I do not. Would not be surprised if Jack Westover is somewhere else when the season kicks off against the Raiders. So Dulcich, to me, he's an interesting name. And he's somebody who is a move tight end. And we know that Josh McDaniels absolutely loves his move tight end. so he can line up the inside, he can line up on the outside, you can line them up on the line

Starting point is 00:17:30 of scrimmage, move him off. So maybe you can even play some games with Dulcich in the back field. And so I think, you know, to have that move tight end, somebody who before the draft process, Greg Dulcich was called a determined football player, yards after the catch, which means he doesn't like to go down, which means there's some innate tough. there in him, which I'm sure Mike Grable would love. Now, he's not a blocker. So that could be the problem

Starting point is 00:18:00 because if you're looking for somebody who can play tight end and fullback and block a little bit, Dulcich is not that guy. But if you can't find the prototypical blocking tight end slash fullback that Josh McDaniels might want,

Starting point is 00:18:16 Dulcich would not be a bad option. He's an upgrade on Westover. You get him on the roster. And then you see, you see how it unfolds. He had a very good preseason, scored a number of touchdowns. So he's a name I'm interested in. And he played for the Giants, as I just mentioned, and we all know that Brian Dayball, the offense that they run with the Giants, very similar to the Josh

Starting point is 00:18:39 McDaniels offense that he ran forever with the Patriots. So I think there are a lot of similarities to how Dulcich could be used within the Patriots offense to how he was used with the Giants. Speaking of the Giants, how about the Giants. how about Tommy DeVito? Hey, Tommy DeVito, not a bad idea. I can do that. I'm going to tell you. Joshua Dobbs's ball placement concerns me, talked about it, the Kyle Williams injury, yada, yada. DeVito, experienced guy, completed 65.3% of his passes in the NFL, 1358 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions, so does a decent job of taking care of the football. He's only 27 years old, and I just wax poetic about the dayball offense.

Starting point is 00:19:23 having that familiarity to it. So I think he's somebody that you can actually entertain bringing in. If you're not in love with Dobbs, you can bring him in. And I think two weeks would be good enough for him to know a decent chunk of the playbook and be able to do some things. So DeVito's a name I'm looking at. I'll give you two more names. Old friend, Jakub Johnson, was released.

Starting point is 00:19:48 And I had this jiff of the Ultimate Warrior. right that that jiff gif i used to call it gif my old co-host called the jiff now i call it jiff i feel guilty if i don't call it jiff of ultimate warrior running down the aisle i think it was somerslam and i said that's josh mcdonald's running down to mike rable's office at jillette you follow me at nixie radio jacob johnson's available obvious fit fullback and another name i throw out There is a Chaz Sarat, interesting guy. Linebacker played most recently for the 49ers. His last preseason game, he had 10 tackles.

Starting point is 00:20:32 He's agile. He's pretty good in coverage. So that's another name I might look at. We underestimated how much two terrible weekends resulted in disaster for this franchise. We will tell you why next, as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The NFL season is almost here, and Fandul is making sure you're ready for kickoff with a can't miss offer.

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Starting point is 00:21:46 That's Fandul.com to place your first $5 bet. And again, bet just $5 bucks, new customers. If your bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets. Fandul.com. It is clear. It is clear that after the initial 53-man roster, the 2022 and 2024-N-24-N-Fense Drafts set the Patriots back for years.

Starting point is 00:22:17 I know we've talked about these drafts before, but I'm not sure if we truly appreciate how much of a disaster that those two drafts were. Because as we move forward with this initial 53 man, more guys from those drafts are no longer on the 53 man. And I just want to make sure that, you know, before we can look at the rosy future hopefully fingers crossed before we look at the brightness of the future i want to revisit one more time the darkness of the past because the 2022 draft for the patriots and you might think this is

Starting point is 00:22:57 going to be hyperbolic but i promise you it's not that 22 patriots draft is all time terrible Cole Strange. Gone. Tyquan Thornton, gone. Although, made the initial 53 man in Kansas City. Congratulations, Taekwon. Marcus Jones, here. Jack Jones, Pierre Strong, Bailey, Kevin Harris, Sam Roberts, Jason Hines, Andrew Stuber, all gone. One guy. One single solitary play. player from the 22 draft is still on your team only three years later, one guy. And that one guy, Marcus Jones, who we all love, he's fun to watch, but he is a punt returner and a slot cornerback who at times can play that nickelback position, but it really depends on matchup because he's not a big guy. And we've seen that play out. he had a tough time at joint practices against Minnesota because Minnesota was like,

Starting point is 00:24:07 I, we're just going to give you T.J. Hawkinson. Good luck, Marcus. So he's fun, but he is an electric punt returner and a slot corner for the most part, depending on matchup. And that's the one guy that you got out of that entire draft. The Cole Strange pick, the Rams were literally laughing at you. a super reach many people believed many pundits and experts and analysts believe that strange should have been picked in like the third or fourth round and yes sometimes those experts

Starting point is 00:24:44 and analysts and pundits are wrong and bill belichick had a number of guys that he could look back and say oh how do you like me now well in this draft cold strange didn't work out and it really hurts when you look back at the 22 draft because the patriots had six in the top four rounds six picks in the top four they had you know strange thornton jones and then in the fourth round you had jack jones strong and zappy i mean six picks in the top 140 and you have one dude remaining brutal now let's look at 2024 who's left from the 24 draft. Oh, Jayvon Baker is. Jayvon Baker is still on the team for now, not because he's been great at wide receiver, not because he's been making people stand up out of their wheelchairs,

Starting point is 00:25:43 as he once promised everybody, but because he's played Gunner pretty well on special teams during the preseason against the twos and threes. So I would not write Jayvon Baker's name down in Sharpie as a guarantee by week one. And I certainly would not write his name down in Sharpie as a guarantee by week four, five, or six. He might get there. And it would be great if he did. But I would not be putting any kind of money on that.

Starting point is 00:26:15 You've got Caden Wallace. The guy who played right tackle during his Penn State career was drafted. We heard that he could slide the left tackle and is now playing left. guard. And I'm not totally sold that Caden Wallace is on this team for the initial 53 man roster if you had any better options on the interior offensive line. So will Caden Wallace still be here by week four? I would not put money on that. I would certainly put money on Drake May being here. So no notes for Drake May. But you have three guys, three guys that are left from the 24 draft you had eight picks now you could say well marcellus dial who tore his ACL yes

Starting point is 00:27:01 marcellus dial would have likely made this team as a sixth corner and the gunner however if dial was on the team i think you take baker off so you'd still have three dudes you would have had wallace may and dial instead of wallace may and baker and i just want you to wrap your head around this This is a stat that you want to tell your friends at the bar over coffee, whatever. You're watching the first weekend of college football, the first true weekend of college football. And you tell your buddy, you know that out of the 2022 and 2024 NFL drafts, the Patriots, they still have only four players out of the 18 that they picked between those two drafts. The Patriots have four guys on this.

Starting point is 00:27:54 initial 53-man roster from the 18 they picked out of those two drafts. You want to talk about destroying your future. You want to talk about the absence of top-end talent. That's how you get there. You don't have a lot of top-end talent when you're drafting as bad as you did in two out of three years because you've got to be over-reliant on free agency. And a lot of times the best players are not hitting free agency. Do you want to talk about lack of depth?

Starting point is 00:28:27 Why does this team have an utter lack of depth at multiple positions? Because of 2022 and 2024, those two drafts. That's why. Imagine if you could have four or five extra guys on this team to fill just depth. Just from a depth standpoint, you would feel much better. But hey, we can look forward because maybe the draft in 2025, maybe that draft four months ago, maybe just maybe that was a turnaround we feel really good about it we feel really good about it

Starting point is 00:28:58 hopefully we feel as good about the 25 draft a year from now as we do four months from that weekend man still can't get over some of that all right that wraps up this edition of lockdown patriots reach out to me on twitter at nick c radio don't forget to throw a comment in on the youtube channel and don't forget to hit that thumbs up that like button and subscribe to us here at YouTube. And thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listening for being it every day. For your second listen, check out Lockdown Fantasy Football with hosts

Starting point is 00:29:30 Vinnie Iyer and Kate Madjuk. Find Lockdown Fantasy Football on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Surprise: Patriots’ Unpredictable Cutdown Day | Forecast: More Change!

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