New England Patriots re-sign Marquice Cole, waive Josh Kline
Just a day after releasing him, the New England Patriots have decided to re-sign Marquice Cole to the 53-man roster, and they announced that they have waived UDFA offensive lineman Josh Kline in order to take his place. It was previously thought that Kline was waived on Saturday and Chris McDonald was the UDFA released, but the Patriots did not announce Kline among their cuts. It was reported that Kline was waived with the intent of being placed on the practice squad, but he wasn’t waived on Saturday.
New England Patriots DB Marquice Cole (23) reacts during the second half against the Buffalo Bills. The New England Patriots won 52 to 28. Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
But the Patriots did decide to waive Josh Kline today, and it’s a move that doesn’t come as a surprise. The New England Patriots would have had ten offensive linemen on the roster had they decided to keep Kline, because they claimed two OLs off of waivers in center Braxston Cave (can also play guard) and another interior OL in Nevada UDFA Chris Barker (Cave came from the Cleveland Browns, whereas the Miami Dolphins were the ones who cut Chris Barker).
Kline had two distinctly positive performances in the preseason, and he snuck into my 53-man roster as the fourth guard. However, Kline had a rough outing (it was really Matt Stankiewitch who had the major issues, though) against the New York Giants. If the Patriots did not pick up a new OL, though, Kline would have made the roster. Now, it looks like he has a spot ticketed for him on the practice squad, and I hope the Kent State product is able to stick around there. He looks like he could be a solid guard with some development under Coach Scar.
As for Marquice Cole, it was a quick return, and it’s good to have him back. I was surprised when they announced his release, because it would have left the Patriots very thin at CB. The Pats put in a claim for a CB from the San Francisco 49ers but lost (a worse team with higher waiver priority signed him), so maybe that was why they cut Cole. He isn’t good in coverage, but he can play the run, the nickel if needed, is deep depth at CB, and he can play special teams. Without Cole, the Patriots would have some serious depth problems at cornerback.