Patriots Lose Three, Including Cre'Von LeBlanc, Kamu Grugier-Hill, On Waivers

The New England Patriots took a risk by releasing many promising players on cutdown day, hoping they would slip to the practice squad.

They weren’t so lucky with three of those players.

The New York Jets claimed cornerback Darryl Roberts, the Chicago Bears claimed Cre’Von LeBlanc, and the Philadelphia Eagles claimed linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill on Sunday, per the NFL’s transaction wire.

Roberts, a 2015 seventh-round draft pick, was waived/injured by the Patriots. He would have reverted to the Patriots’ injured reserve if he had gone unclaimed.

LeBlanc was a preseason star for the Patriots but injured his hip before the final preseason game. He and Roberts were beaten out by cornerback Jonathan Jones for a roster spot.

Grugier-Hill was selected in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He’s an undersized linebacker who could excel on special teams with more experience.

Running back Tyler Gaffney and linebacker Kevin Snyder passed through waivers unclaimed and reverted to IR. This will be Gaffney’s third consecutive season beginning on injured reserve.

The following players went unclaimed after the Patriots released them:

OL Chris Barker
WR DeAndre Carter
WR Aaron Dobson
DE Geneo Grissom
G Jon Halapio
DT Woodrow Hamilton
WR Chris Harper
FB Joey Iosefa
DE Rufus Johnson
WR Devin Lucien
SS Vinnie Sunseri
DT Joe Vellano
TE Bryce Williams

Of that group, only Dobson isn’t practice squad eligible.

UPDATE (1:44 p.m. ET): Harper has taken his talents elsewhere, as well. He has joined the San Francisco 49ers, according to his Twitter account.