Patriots: 3 players who will get cut before 2020 season begins

1. Gunner Olszewski

As things stand, it’s looking like the Patriots will roll with a wide receiving corps (in no order) of Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry and Mohamed Sanu. Those will likely be the three starters, with Damiere Byrd and Jakobi Meyers filling in as subs. A rotation like this would leave the likes of Matthew Slater, Gunner Olszewski and undrafted talent Jeff Thomas to battle it out for the final two spots on the roster.

Since the former is the Patriots’ most valuable asset on special teams, his job is safe. He’s merely there on the annual WR depth chart for emergency purposes. In our eyes, Thomas, who signed with New England shortly after the 2020 Draft, will come out on top — meaning that Olszewski will get the short end of the stick.

This is nothing against the 23-year-old. We just believe the former Miami Hurricane brings more to the table. As evidenced by his two receptions last year, the Patriots clearly don’t view Olszewski as a wideout — he’s more of a training camp curiosity. A Hustle Bot meant to endear himself to the fan base, and depress you when he gets cut on Hard Knocks.

Olszewski was utilized as their primary punt return man, but Thomas has experience in the return game — averaging 18.9 yards on 14 punt returns and 22.6 yards on 54 kickoffs in college.

Whereas Gunner is a one-trick pony, the undrafted rookie can be valuable to the Patriots in multiple facets as a pass catcher and return specialist.

Patriots: 3 players most affected by likely canceled preseason

Here are three New England Patriots players that will be most affected by the NFL's impending decision to cancel the preseason.