Adrian Clayborn notified of his release from Patriots
In an effort to free up cap space, the New England Patriots gave defensive end Adrian Clayborn notice of his release from the team on Friday.
As expected, the New England Patriots freed up some much-needed salary cap space on Friday by granting defensive end Adrian Clayborn his release from the team. The move is expected to open about $3.5 million in space for the Patriots.
Clayborn may have known this moment was coming for a while, because he wasted little time in taking to social media to thank the franchise, his teammates, and New England fans for their support during his brief one-year tenure in Foxborough.
Thank you @Patriots for my time with the organization. I gained so much respect for how you do things and win championships. It’s done the right way through hard work. Thank you for granting my release. I’m ready for this next chapter.
— Adrian Clayborn (@AJaClay) March 15, 2019
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Clayborn played just 30% of the defensive snaps in the 2018 regular season. He made a little more noise in the playoffs, mustering up two tackles and a sack in the Divisional round against the Los Angeles Chargers, before tacking on one QB hit apiece against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship and against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53.
Overall though, his time in New England shouldn’t be considered anything less than a disappointment. After signing a two-year deal worth $10 million this same time last year, many analysts labeled Clayborn as the Pats’ marquee free agent signing in the 2018 offseason. Unfortunately he never quite lived up to that billing, playing in just 14 games (he was a healthy scratch for the final two) and registering only 11 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and one forced fumble.
Those numbers pale in comparison to what he accomplished with the Atlanta Falcons in 2017: 21 tackles, 9.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and two recoveries. Clearly, the ceiling for the 30-year-old player out of Iowa was projected to be a lot higher than it ended up being when Bill Belichick signed him last March.
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In fairness to Clayborn though, the Patriots may have also reached a bit when they signed him to be their premier pass rusher. Six of Clayborn’s 9.5 sacks in 2017 came in one game against the Dallas Cowboys that year, when he was matched up opposite backup offensive lineman (and human turnstile) Chaz Green.