After a busy day of cutting down the initial roster to 53 players, the Patriots were ready to be near the top of the list of the waiver wire to claim some of the more prominent names to hit the market after being cut on Tuesday afternoon.
They were and still are expected to make a flurry of moves, but before they could even do that, it was announced that they made their first shocking roster move of the week by releasing veteran wide receiver Kendrick Bourne.
And according to NFL insider Adam Schefter, the receiver requested his release, likely knowing he would either not be a significant part of the team's 2025 offense or they were shopping him in hopes of trading him instead.
Patriots are releasing WR Kendrick Bourne after he requested his release, per source. pic.twitter.com/OGxBOMdHqZ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 27, 2025
It's an interesting move, given the Patriots chose to keep eight receivers on their initial roster announcement, yet released him one day later. There's not a lot of reason behind that, but it seemed clear from the start that they would make a move with the receiving corps, since rostering eight pass catchers is unheard of.
While it's not totally unexpected, it is a risky move for the team based on how Bourne performed with Josh McDaniels in 2021.
Kendrick Bourne will not revive the success he had with Josh McDaniels in New England this year
Among the players most excited for McDaniels' return to Foxboro was Bourne, who was probably the most vocal with his happiness. It made sense because he had the best season of his career with the Patriots in 2021, the last year McDaniels called the offense before taking the Raiders' head coaching vacancy.
There was optimism that we could see success replicated this fall, which would be a massive plus for Drake Maye's development. Still, an injury that kept him away from practice and the preseason in recent weeks appears to have been an underlying reason for his release.
Additionally, the Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan reported that the Patriots attempted to trade Bourne to the Vikings, and after the trade fell through, he requested to be released. Minnesota instead acquired Adam Thielen.
The #Patriots are releasing WR Kendrick Bourne upon request after they failed to finalize a trade that would have sent him to Minnesota, per source.
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) August 27, 2025
Bourne is healthy and was expected to practice today had he remained in New England. pic.twitter.com/iMRAV7zbb0
It's possible another team would have inquired and they could made a trade with them instead. Clearly, there was an interest if the Vikings were close to making a deal happen. It's possible his injury deterred some, but this feels like a missed opportunity by the Patriots.
Hopefully, this won't have a massive impact on the offense's success, since Bourne could have been heavily utilized in the game plan due to his previous success with McDaniels.