Asante Cleveland, whose brief New England Patriots tenure came to an ill-timed end two and a half years ago, is back in Foxboro this week.
The Patriots are hosting the 25-year-old tight end on a free agent visit Thursday, a source told NESN.com. Ben Volin of The Boston Globe was the first to report the visit.
Acquired from the San Francisco 49ers in the Jordan Devey trade in August 2015, Cleveland appeared in just four games with the Patriots, catching one pass on one target. That was the first — and, to date, only — reception of his NFL career.
Cleveland’s time in New England is largely unmemorable, but his exit from the team represented one of coach Bill Belichick’s coldest roster moves. Belichick cut him on Christmas Day, an experience he recalled two years later in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“He was like, ‘Hey Asante. It’s Belichick,’ ” Cleveland said. “He said, ‘We’re going to have to make some roster moves.’ At that point, I knew what ‘roster moves’ means. It means I’m being moved from the roster. We needed to bring in a cornerback because we were playing the Jets.
“He said, ‘I just want to let you know this is no indication we’re moving away from you. We really like you. … We just need to make this quick transaction.’ That call ended. I said, ‘Merry Christmas.’ I don’t know if he heard me. He didn’t say it back.”
The player the Patriots released Cleveland to add, cornerback Troy Hill, never played in a game with the team.
Cleveland was claimed off waivers by the then-San Diego Chargers, with whom he spent the last three seasons. He appeared in four games in 2016 and spent all of this past season on injured reserve.
The Patriots are in the market for tight end depth after releasing Martellus Bennett earlier this month. Dwayne Allen, who has a $5 million cap hit this season and was unproductive in 2017, still could be cut, as well.
New England currently has Allen, Rob Gronkowski and Jacob Hollister under contract. Gronkowski considered retirement following Super Bowl LII but reportedly is expected to play this season.
