Going into training camp, the Patriots knew they were going to have an intense wide receiver roster battle for the 2025 season. They had 12 players signed to the team, with only a few already considered locks. That continues going into the third week of practices, but there is at least one name that remains at the bottom of the totem pole.
While players like Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, and Kyle Williams have stolen the spotlight through training camp so far, second-year receiver Ja'Lynn Polk has accomplished the complete opposite. For the most part, it's not entirely surprising, given that he wasn't able to practice for much of the first two weeks.
However, he was also dealt an unfortunate hand after a rough rookie season under the one-and-done head coach Jerod Mayo. That meant Polk had a mountain to climb to make this year's roster, and it's already looking like he could be among the first cuts of the summer.
It's easy to pinpoint Ja'Lynn Polk as one of the first roster cuts the Patriots will make
Besides consistently being projected as a cut in the latest roster projections, Polk has not been able to make his presence known yet this summer. Part of that can be blamed on his lack of availability until just last week, as he was still rehabbing from an injury. But that only makes his climb to the final roster that much more difficult.
We can already mark off Stefon Diggs and rookie Kyle Williams as roster locks, and it's looking like Boutte and Douglas will be there, too. That leaves up to three spots remaining for the 2025 receiving corps, and Polk has to compete with players like Kendrick Bourne, Mack Hollins, and maybe even UDFA Efton Chism III for those spots.
Making the situation even worse is that his fellow 2024 draftee, Javon Baker, has been making some plays at practice recently, officially putting him back on the radar after falling into the same boat of obscurity with Polk. If Baker can continue that upward trajectory, that will only make Polk's path to the team that much harder to imagine.
It's not entirely ruled out for him to make the team, mainly since the Patriots did invest a second-round pick on him just one year ago. Although that wasn't the current regime that did, as Mayo is out and Mike Vrabel is in, Eliot Wolf is still in the front office, and he is a big part of who the team drafts.
That could work in Polk's favor if Wolf still believes in what the receiver can accomplish in the NFL.
Otherwise, he might be the easiest first cut, or even be included in a potential trade package for a proven playmaker like receiver Terry McLaurin or pass rusher Micah Parsons. But as of this moment, it's not looking good for Polk to make the team.