Bill Belichick Gives Vague Remarks On Trey Flowers’ Patriots Future

FOXBORO, Mass. — On Wednesday morning, Bill Belichick said the Patriots would like to bring Malik Cunningham back to the practice squad if he clears waivers. But what about Trey Flowers who, like Cunningham, was released Tuesday?

“Trey’s in a little different situation,” Belichick said during a news conference. “We’ll just leave that where it is. There’s other rules and other things involved. A much longer discussion.”

So, what’s Belichick talking about?

Honestly, we’re not sure. But our best guess is that it relates to potential rules involving the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.

Flowers, who played in New England from 2015 through 2018, signed with the Patriots during the summer with hopes of reviving his injury-plagued career. He was immediately placed on PUP due to a lingering foot issue and stayed there until returning to practice on Oct. 4.

From that point, the Flowers had until this Wednesday — a 21-day window, like with injured reserve — to be added to the Patriots’ active roster or he’d be forced to sit out the entire season. But New England released the 30-year-old a day before the deadline arrived.

Unlike Cunningham, Flowers wasn’t subject to waivers after getting released. However, it’s possible there are specific rules involving practice squad eligibility for players who spent time on PUP or IR in the same season.

For example, if Flowers ultimately wasn’t healthy enough to be added to the roster after the 21 days, he’s supposed to miss the rest of the season. So, the NFL might not want teams to get cute with the rules by cutting a player and putting him on the practice squad to give him extra time to recover. Belichick might’ve been talking about rules that do or don’t address such a loophole.

That said, we’re only speculating. It’s really difficult to find rulebook details on this specific situation.

In any case, it’s looking increasingly likely that Flowers won’t play in a game for the Patriots in 2023.