New England Patriots Finalize Initial 53-Man Roster

As of right now, the New England Patriots have their final 53 man roster. Today was the deadline to cut rosters down to 53, but as many have noted, expect the Patriots to make a few more moves in advance of next Sunday’s opener in Miami.

Here is the roster:

Quarterbacks: (3)

Tom Brady, Ryan Mallett, Jimmy Garoppolo

Running Backs: (5)

Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, James White, Brandon Bolden, James Develin

Wide Receivers: (5)

Julian Edelman, Aaron Dobson, Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell, Kenbrell Thompkins

Tight Ends: (3)

Rob Gronkowski, Michael Hoomanawanui, Tim Wright

Offensive Line: (10)

Nate Solder, Sebastian Vollmer, Marcus Cannon, Dan Connolly, Bryan Stork, Ryan Wendell, Josh Kline, Jordan Devey, Cameron Fleming, Chris Barker

Defensive Line: (9)

Vince Wilfork, Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, Zach Moore, Dominique Easley, Michael Buchanan, Chris Jones, Sealver Siliga, Joe Vellano

Linebackers: (5)

Jerod Mayo, Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower, Chris White, Darius Fleming

Cornerbacks: (5)

Darrelle Revis, Alfonzo Dennard, Logan Ryan, Kyle Arrington, Malcolm Butler

Safeties: (5)

Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon, Tavon Wilson, Patrick Chung, Nate Ebner

Specialists: (3)

Stephen Gostkowski, Ryan Allen, Matthew Slater

There haven’t been many surprises, although seeing the Pats cut long-snapper Danny Aiken was a bit curious. Going forward, unless they bring Aiken back, it looks like defensive end Rob Ninkovich will handle those duties.

But after all of those cuts, the main issue in regards to depth is still the linebackers. After the starting trio, New England has Chris White, and Darius Fleming as the depth guys, which in my opinion is extremely scary. I liked what Fleming did in the preseason, and I definitely feel like he earned a job, but White? I have no idea why Bill Belichick decided to keep him around. Hopefully the Patriots starting group gets through the entire year healthy, so we don’t have to see the travesty of White starting.

We should also keep in mind that if the Patriots decide to run a 3-4 defense this year, Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich will be counted as outside linebackers. This also means that either Jamie Collins or Dont’a Hightower won’t be starting the in the base defense, which means they would technically be depth guys. It will be interesting to monitor that situation, as the Pats make a few more changes to the final roster.

And finally, what is going on at the second safety spot? Duron Harmon, Patrick Chung, and Tavon Wilson all made the roster, which doesn’t help us in figuring out who will start opposite Devin McCourty. I do think that it will be Chung and Harmon splitting time, as they were the two that stood out the most in preseason. I guess we will find out next Sunday afternoon.

(Also, wide receiver Brian Tyms, and cornerback Brandon Browner are still on the roster, but don’t count against it because they are both suspended for the first four games).