3 Patriots players who could be camp cuts for financial reasons

Derek Rivers

The 2017 NFL Draft class for the New England Patriots is widely regarded as one of the weakest in Bill Belichick’s tenure as head coach and general manager. Because of trades and Deflategate penalties, the Patriots made just four selections that year — and two of the four never played a snap in New England.

Derek Rivers was supposed to be the top draft pick of the class, checking in as Belichick’s first selection that year at No. 83 overall in the third round. Though a product of small-school Youngstown State, Rivers was widely viewed as a sack artist with all the makings of being a successful pass rusher in the right pro environment.

New England should have been — and should still be — the right pro environment for him. Unfortunately though, Rivers has been snakebit by injuries throughout his career.

He missed all of his rookie year and then all of 2019 with injuries suffered in training camp and the preseason of each year, respectively. Even in 2018, he played just six games during the regular season and was a healthy scratch throughout the postseason.

Now, Rivers finds himself in the final year of a four-year contract worth about $3.3 million. While cutting him wouldn’t free up a ton of space, it could be just enough to help New England sign an available player to the veteran’s minimum if they so choose.

The Patriots have plenty of talent at defensive end/outside linebacker in Chase Winovich, John Simon, Josh Uche, Deatrich Wise, and Shilique Calhoun. Unless Rivers has a phenomenal training camp and preseason, he could be a cut this summer for financial reasons.