The New England Patriots got a head start of trimming down their roster ahead of Tuesday’s cutdown day.
The Patriots waived defensive backs Jalen Elliott and Devin Hafford on Saturday, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss. Both Elliott and Hafford were longshots to make New England’s roster and neither factored into the team’s 20-10 win over the Carolina Panthers on Friday.
Elliott, who the Patriots brought in at the beginning of training camp and spent time with the Detroit Lions last season, did show some promise in New England’s preseason opener against the New York Giants. The safety recorded a game-high 10 tackles in the contest, but it still wasn’t enough to keep him around.
This is the second time Hafford has said goodbye to the Patriots. Hafford, who played his college football at FCS Tarleton State University, was one of the initial members of New England’s 2022 undrafted free agent class before getting released prior to the start of OTAs. The Patriots had just resigned Hafford on Sunday.
Even by cutting these two players and losing two cornerbacks to injury, the Patriots still have plenty of depth in the secondary, especially if rookies Marcus Jones and Jack Jones contribute.
The Patriots still have more work left to do in the coming days as they need to cut their roster down from 85 to 80 players by Tuesday.
Coach Bill Belichick gave insight Saturday morning into how he goes about making some of these “tough decisions” regarding cuts.
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