Patriots: 3 players facing an uphill battle at training camp

1. Brandon Bolden

A respected veteran facing an uphill battle at camp? That goes against everything the Patriots stand for, so how could Brandon Bolden possibly be faced with this situation?

We’re glad you asked. For starters, the Patriots’ running back rotation for next season is mostly set. The way we see it, Damien Harris is the projected starter, Sony Michel will be mixed in as a change-of-pace guy, and James White will continue to dominate snaps on passing downs.

Has Brandon Bolden’s time with the Patriots run its course?

While Bolden has been utilized as a red zone specialist with New England — he scored three rushing touchdowns for them back in 2019 — you can argue that they have three capable red zone running backs on the roster in Harris, Michel and Rhamondre Stevenson.

Now that we mention it, the addition of Stevenson, who the Patriots selected in the fourth round this year, makes Bolden’s presence almost redundant, doesn’t it? Assuming the two-time champ is out of contention to receive carries, what value would he provide?

Throughout his career, Bolden has been a regular on New England’s league-best special teams unit. However, the performed just fine without him last season (he opted out), so we’re hard-pressed to picture a scenario in which he isn’t fighting for a roster spot at camp.

After all, releasing Bolden would free up $1.5 million in cap space.

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