Patriots: team releases former Packers and Browns cornerback

The New England Patriots released Lenzy Pipkins on Sunday.

Bill Belichick is already doing some roster trimming for the New England Patriots and parted ways with a young defensive back.

Lenzy Pipkins, who the Pats signed in February, is the casualty before training camp, which isn’t that surprising considering the plethora of defensive backs New England possesses on the roster.

After all, non-starters like JC Jackson, Kyle Duggar and Jonathan Jones are expected to play big roles in the defensive backfield next year.

Pipkins, 26, will bounce around the NFL once again. After coming into the league as an undrafted free agent in 2017 when he signed with the Green Bay Packers, he’s since been scooped up by the Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns. He’s logged reps with all of those teams except the Browns (he was on the practice squad).

He failed to make the Browns roster in 2019 and didn’t play all of last season after appearing in 15 total games across 2017 and 2018, so it’s easy to see why this wasn’t exactly a surprising roster move.

When Pipkins arrived in New England it was clear he’d endure an uphill battle. The Patriots’ defense is far and away their biggest strength and the secondary is littered with Pro Bowl talent.

Nonetheless, Pipkins, the former Oklahoma State product, has good size for a corner, standing at 6-0 and 196 pounds. This film breakdown of the cornerback shows that he certainly has potential to make an impact on a defense that possesses talent in the secondary. He’s got solid ball skills and can tackle well.

Perhaps the Patriots keep him on their radar in case any injuries pop up once training camp begins this week, but with their current installation of defensive backs it’s unlikely they add anyone else to that unit given the help they need elsewhere.