New England Patriots Kick-Off in 68 Days: Profiling No. 68 Caylin Hauptmann

Opening day countdowns are great. So are player profiles. Here at Musket Fire, we decided to combine them and create a Week 1 countdown-oriented, jersey number-dictated player profile series. Yesterday, we looked at No. 69 Shaq Mason, and a few days before that it was No. 71 Cameron Fleming. Because today marks 68 days until the New England Patriots open 2015, we are profiling No. 68, offensive tackle Caylin Hauptmann.

From a purely winning perspective, no player in the NFL has had a better past two seasons than Hauptmann. After being signed off the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad early in the 2013 season, the Florida International product went on to win Super Bowl XLVIII with the Seattle Seahawks. And then a failed physical ended his second stint with the Browns this past September, from which point he signed with the Patriots and earned a Super Bowl XLIX ring.

However, Hauptmann has been relegated to backup duty for the entirety of his two years in the NFL. He appeared in just one game for the Seahawks in 2013, and didn’t touch the field once as a member of the 2014 Patriots.

Hauptmann will be fighting for his career this summer. Considering that his skill set is a mismatch for the right guard position that is open for competition, Hauptmann’s best bet for making the team will be at right tackle. From the opening whistle of training camp, Hauptmann and Cameron Fleming will be battling for the top backup job behind Sebastian Vollmer.

At this point, you could flip a coin as to whether or not Hauptmann will make the team. For superstitious reasons, the Patriots may not want to cut ties with a player that has won a Super Bowl in each of his NFL seasons.

In case you missed them, here are the profiles for No. 72 Joe Vellano, No. 74 Trey Flowers, No. 76 Sebastian Vollmer, No. 77 Nate Solder, No. 80 Danny Amendola, No. 82 Josh Boyce, No. 84 Brian Tyms, No. 85 Jake Bequette, No. 86 A.J. Derby, No. 87 Rob Gronkowski, No. 88 Scott Chandler, No. 90 Zach Moore and No. 91 Jamie Collins.

Be sure to check back on Musket Fire tomorrow morning as we celebrate 67 days until Week 1 by profiling No. 67, guard Josh Kline.