Patriots Decline Offering Internal Free Agents, Let Them Test Market

The Patriots have done a great job at retaining internal free agents through the early portion of free agency, but they aren’t keeping everyone.

New England chose not to extend qualifying offers to restricted free agent linebacker Terez Hall or exclusive-rights free agent Tre Nixon, allowing them both to enter free agency.

Hall, 27, has been on and off the Patriots’ roster for multiple seasons. He originally joined New England as an undrafted free agent in 2019, and has been waived/re-signed four times over the following four seasons and eventually being released on an injury waiver in August 2023.

The Missouri product played in a total of eight games in 2020.

Nixon, 26, was taken in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft, following a similar path to that of Hall. He never appeared in a regular-season game, but was a member of the Patriots’ practice squad in each of his first two seasons. He spent the entirety of 2023 on injured reserve after suffering an injury in the preseason.

If Hall or Nixon fail to find new homes, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them return as roster filler later in the offseason.