5 Patriots who won’t be back with the team next season

4. LB Chase Winovich

Yup, we have some non-free agents on this list. Nobody is safe from Belichick’s roster revamp. Nobody! So we’d love for someone to justify why Chase Winovich would remain on the 2022 roster.

In the offseason, there were reportedly character concerns with the former Michigan star, though it’s unclear how true they were. Then again, if you look at Winovich’s downright laughable playing time in 2021, you’ll realize that there’s no way he’ll justify a $1.2 million cap hit next year.

After playing in a career-high 594 defensive snaps (58%) in 2020, Winovich’s snap share diminished to 113 (14%), though in three fewer games. He was more of a special teams contributor than anything, so it’s clear something has impacted Belichick’s decision-making here.

The former third-round pick logged 74 tackles, 11 sacks and 22 QB hits in 2019 and 2020 while (cumulatively) still playing under 50% of the snaps on defense. That wasn’t enough to show he’s a playmaker off the edge? Though the Patriots have beefed up their pass rush with Matt Judon last year, it’s clear Winovich has value in the right package/defensive scheme.

Maybe the Patriots moved away from what was maximizing his efficiency. Maybe Winovich’s reported attitude problems affected his playing time.

Either way, if Belichick can save $1 million against the cap here, he’s going to do it because he’s likely not willing to pay that price for a reserve defender and part-time special teams contributor.