In the hours leading up to the roster cut deadline on Monday, the Patriots were making predictable moves with the team. It wasn't until the finalized 53-man roster was announced that the bolder moves became apparent, such as the release of 2025 fifth-round pick Bradyn Swinson and the cutting of former first-rounder Cole Strange.
Perhaps the most shocking move of all was their decision to keep eight wide receivers for the season ahead. While packing the offense for Drake Maye could be one way to look at it, it seems more than obvious that the receiving corps will look drastically different come Week 1, because keeping that many receivers is unheard of.
That immediately skyrockets a few names to the top of the list of most likely next cut candidates, or even some trades left to happen. It all becomes even more intriguing given some of the players who became available at the deadline, many of whom would be great fits for the New England Patriots.
There's no way the Patriots don't make some sort of move with their receivers ASAP
The most discussed players in those categories are wide receivers Javon Baker and Kendrick Bourne. Both had long been considered on the roster bubble throughout the summer for different reasons, so seeing them both make the team was shocking.
Baker might have made the team in a special teams role, as he succeeded in that area during training camp and the preseason. Bourne, on the other hand, hasn't practiced for weeks due to an injury, but his familiarity with Josh McDaniels' offense might have kept him around.
At the same time, there are still question marks surrounding both players, especially Baker, who seemed to respond negatively to roster cuts by deleting all images from his Instagram account and presumably unfollowing the Patriots, as well. That might be chalked up to nothing, since he initially made the team, or he knows what's coming.
With a player like Jakob Johnson becoming available, who McDaniels has enjoyed having on his teams in the past, it makes Baker's time look even more limited. It's possible that they kept him around to have a 53-man roster by the deadline, and just in case Johnson returns to Houston to the practice squad instead of signing with New England.
Then there's the potential of trading for Jakobi Meyers, a proven talent in McDaniels' system and the reason he signed with the Raiders after Bill Belichick chose to sign JuJu Smith-Schuster instead. He would immediately boot a player like Baker off the team.
They have already shown that they aren't locked into one player to be the returner on kickoffs or punt returns, so it doesn't seem wise to assume Baker has locked that role down. It's certainly possible, but his stance on the team is far from concrete, making it easy to believe he will be the next cut player.
There's also the chance of Kyle Dugger and/or Anfernee Jennings being traded before Week 1, as both have been the subject of those talks over the past week.
No matter what happens, it's clear Vrabel and Co. are going to make a move sooner rather than later, particularly with the wide receivers, making it clear they're planning something for the immediate future. What that will be is hard to say, yet outright cuts seem more likely at this point, given who those players are and the uncertainty of a team expressing serious interest in completing a trade.
However, it probably won't be as exciting as some fans would wish, such as a blockbuster trade, since the most likely players this regime would have pursued have already received extensions. Instead, we might be looking at trades that involve a sixth or seventh-round pick in return.