New England Patriots Release WR Josh Boyce, 18 Others

And here we go.

The deadline for the New England Patriots to get their roster down to 53 players is today at 4 PM ET, which means there will be a lot of cuts today. And according to Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston, we already know who 19 of those players will be.

"The New England Patriots informed second-year wide receiver Josh Boyce that he will be waived by Saturday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline, as the team has started the process of trimming its roster from 75 to 53 players.In addition to Boyce, the Patriots have informed rookie guard Jon Halapio that he is also being waived. That move was expected, although it’s a bit of a disappointment for the Patriots after they selected Halapio in the sixth round of the draft (179th overall) out of Florida.Also, second-year linebacker Steve Beauharnais was informed of his release in what could be considered a mild surprise. The 2013 seventh-round draft choice from Rutgers was praised by teammates for his film study and command of the defense.Others reportedly told of their release who were expected to be let go, per reports, include defensive tackles Jerel Worthy, Eathyn Manumaleuna, and L.T Tuipulotu, defensive end Jake Bequette, center Braxston Cave, tight end Steve Maneri, linebackers James Morris (injured) andJa’Gared Davis, receiver Jeremy Gallon, fullback Taylor McCuller, running backs Roy Finch and Jonas Gray, cornerback Daxton Swanson, and safeties Kanorris Davis and Shamiel Gary."

The biggest surprise to me, is the release of linebacker Steve Beauharnais. He didn’t play very well in the preseason, but the Pats have so little depth at linebacker, I thought they would be forced to keep Beauharnais. But evidently Bill Belichick liked what he saw from Chris White instead, who, along with Darius Fleming, appears to have made the cut.

In addition to this, I thought it was interesting that Jerel Worthy was cut, because after Tommy Kelly was released, I thought Worthy would have a chance to play his way onto the roster. However he didn’t wow us in Thursday night’s game, so it looks like the Pats like what they have at defensive tackle.

The Patriots roster now stands at 54 players (including Chris Martin’s release), so there is one cut left. Now we must remember, the Pats will try to get a few of these players to their roster squad, but they must clear through waivers first. There are a number of guys that New England likes, and would love to keep them around. Stay tuned to see how that all works out.