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New England Patriots News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/21/21

September 21st, 2021 at 5:34pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Signed: T Jackson Barton (off Giants’ practice squad)

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Patriots’ Trent Brown To Miss Week 2

September 18th, 2021 at 5:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Trent Brown will not be in the Patriots’ starting lineup against the Jets on Sunday. The calf strain the recently reacquired right tackle suffered last week will keep him out.

This marks the latest health setback for Brown, who missed much of last season due to injury and COVID-19 complications. Second-year UDFA Yasir Durant is the top candidate to fill in for Brown, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets.

This marks the second straight year a calf injury will sideline Brown. His 2020 started similarly, with a Week 1 calf ailment leading to missed early-season time.

The Pats traded a 2022 fifth-round pick to the Raiders for Brown and a seventh-rounder and redid the large lineman’s contract. Part of Brown’s reworked deal includes per-game roster bonuses totaling $2MM. While Brown was called day-to-day after his latest injury, he missed New England’s Wednesday and Thursday practices and managed a limited session Friday. This participation may point to Brown missing just one week, but the run of bad breaks for the seventh-year veteran should be a bit of a concern for a team that also has a left tackle (Isaiah Wynn) with an extensive injury past.

Though he became the rare right tackle Pro Bowl invitee in his first Raiders season, Brown missed five games in 2019. He missed 11 in 2020. After Brown’s calf issue forced three missed games last season, he had two stints on the Raiders’ reserve/COVID-19 list. While Brown did not miss a game for the Patriots in 2018, when he played a major role in the franchise winning its sixth Super Bowl, the 6-foot-8 blocker’s health in the time since he initially left New England has become an issue.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/18/21

September 18th, 2021 at 4:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

The customary Saturday minor moves avalanche:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

  • Promoted: WR DeMichael Harris

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Patriots Sign QB Brian Hoyer To New One-Year Deal

September 18th, 2021 at 9:42am CST by Ben Levine

Brian Hoyer is back on the Patriots active roster. The team signed the veteran quarterback to a one-year deal this morning, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). This deal could end up locking Hoyer to the active roster for the rest of the season, but there’s always a chance the team continues to shuffle him on and off their squad.

Hoyer was one of four quarterbacks in Patriots camp, but following the release of Cam Newton and the injury to Jarrett Stidham, the veteran found himself as the primary backup to rookie Mac Jones. However, that still didn’t secure Hoyer a roster spot about the preseason. The team ended up cutting the 35-year-old, although he later landed on the Patriots practice squad in what proved to be a formality. Hoyer was promoted for New England’s Week 1 loss to the Dolphins.

The veteran passer is now on his third stint with the Patriots and will be tasked with mentoring a promising rookie. Hoyer got one start for the Patriots in 2020, when he completed 15 of his 24 passes in a loss to the Chiefs. The quarterback had an interception and a fumble in the game.

This development is probably good news for Garrett Gilbert, who was one of two quarterbacks on the Patriots practice squad. While the team has seemingly settled on Hoyer as the definitive backup, Gilbert probably has a solid hold on his practice squad spot.

Patriots Plan To Place K Quinn Nordin On IR

September 17th, 2021 at 3:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

Nick Folk should soon be in position to stick around as the Patriots’ kicker for the foreseeable future. The Pats are planning to place rookie kicker Quinn Nordin on IR, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

An abdominal injury will lead to Nordin’s IR stay. The Michigan product did not kick in New England’s opener, with the team promoting Folk from its practice squad. Nordin managed a limited practice Thursday but did not work out Friday. This is not expected to be a season-ending injury, per Rapoport, who adds November will be a return goal.

Despite being the Patriots’ primary kicker over the past two seasons, Folk still resides on New England’s taxi squad. That status will change ahead of the team’s Week 2 game against the Jets. The Pats elevated Folk before last week’s game. He made all three of his field goal tries in the Week 1 loss to the Dolphins. New England initially added Folk in 2019, after Stephen Gostkowski‘s injury halted his 14-season tenure, and re-signed him this offseason.

New England added Nordin as a UDFA this offseason. Nordin led the Big Ten in field goals made as a freshman, connecting on 19, and remained the Wolverines’ top kicker through his senior year.

Injury Updates: Penny, Davenport, Taylor, Brown

September 13th, 2021 at 8:00pm CST by Ben Levine

Rashaad Penny has struggled to stay healthy during his brief NFL career, and the Seahawks running back suffered another injury on Sunday. Penny left the game early with a calf injury, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the 25-year-old is expected to be “shut down for a few weeks” while he recovers. An IR stint could be a possibility for the running back.

Fortunately for the Seahawks, they’re rostering a handful of capable running backs behind Chris Carson, including DeeJay Dallas, Travis Homer and Alex Collins. Head coach Pete Carroll pointed to that depth when explaining why the team would be cautious during Penny’s recovery.

“He’s got a calf strain, so it’ll take us a bit to figure out what the return would be on that,” Carroll said (via the team’s website). “He ran really well when he ran the other night, so we’re going to miss him, it looks like this week, we won’t know. We’ll let you know how that goes. But Alex is ready to go, and both Homer and DeeJay, they’re ready to go too, so we’re in good shape. We had four running backs up this week, so we’re in pretty good shape at the position. Unfortunately, if it takes him a couple weeks, then we’ll figure out how to handle that.”

Penny, a 2018 first-round pick, appeared in only 13 games between the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Some more injury notes from around the NFL:

  • Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport will be sidelined while he recovers from a pectoral strain, per Rapoport on Twitter. The pass rusher is expected to miss some time but “should be back sooner rather than later.” Following a disappointing 2020 campaign, Davenport was hoping for a bounce-back season in 2021. He was already on his way, as he compiled three tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss, and one QB hit before falling to his injury.
  • Texans defensive tackle Vincent Taylor suffered an ankle injury yesterday that will require surgery, according to Mark Berman of Fox26 in Houston (via Twitter). Taylor is expected to be sidelined for six weeks. Taylor signed a one-year contract with Houston this offseason, and he started Sunday’s game before suffering the injury. The 27-year-old got into a career-high 15 games for the Browns last season, finishing with 12 tackles.
  • Patriots offensive tackle Trent Brown exited yesterday’s loss with a calf injury, but the offensive lineman is now just considered day-to-day, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Brown re-joined the Patriots this offseason after having spent the past two seasons with the Raiders.

49ers Were Concerned Patriots Would Jump Them To Select Mac Jones

September 12th, 2021 at 12:29pm CST by Rory Parks

The 49ers became the talk of the pre-draft portion of the offseason when they engineered a trade up to the No. 3 overall pick. It was immediately clear that San Francisco was going to draft a QB with that selection, and for a time, the rumor was that the club had its eye on Alabama passer Mac Jones. Ultimately, of course, the team drafted North Dakota State signal-caller Trey Lance.

However, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports, one of the reasons the Niners made the deal was because they believed the Patriots had identified Jones as their quarterback of the future and wanted to beat New England to the punch. That suggests that the 49ers did initially favor Jones — who was seen as an ideal fit for Shanahan’s scheme — and were only later persuaded to take Lance. The Niners said all along that they viewed multiple passers as legitimate candidates for the No. 3 pick, so blocking the Pats and assuring themselves of the chance to select Jones was not the only motivation for the deal, but it was certainly a perk.

As Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston tweets, there may have been another benefit to the trade as it relates to New England. Even if Lance was the 49ers’ target all along, floating the possibility that they were going to nab Jones might have prompted the Pats to swing a deal for Jimmy Garoppolo.

In the end, Jones fell to the Patriots at No. 15 overall, and he will be under center for the club’s regular season opener against the Dolphins today. Meanwhile, Garoppolo is still starting for the 49ers, and Lance will operate as his backup.

That arrangement may not last long. As Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, Shanahan has already installed plays for Lance, who will see the field in certain packages right away. And one source says Lance will assume more and more responsibilities as the early part of the season goes on while Garoppolo showcases his talents for teams that might be interested in trading for him prior to the November 2 deadline.

Patriots Promote Brian Hoyer, Nick Folk

September 11th, 2021 at 3:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

Two familiar faces are back on the Patriots’ active roster. The team elevated Brian Hoyer and Nick Folk from its practice squad Saturday, Sports Talk 790’s Aaron Wilson tweets. The Pats also placed wide receiver Malcolm Perry on IR.

This has been a busy day for the kicker position, with Folk’s promotion following AFC South callups — Joey Slye (Texans) and Michael Badgley (Titans). But Folk will give the Pats two active-roster kickers. Quinn Nordin remains on New England’s roster. Barring an IR move, the rookie would need to pass through waivers in order to be shuttled down to the practice squad.

Bill Belichick hinted this week the Pats could carry both Folk and Nordin on their active roster. Folk could again be moved down to New England’s practice squad next week, given the 2020 CBA’s additional flexibility regarding practice squad promotions. Teams can now carry 55 players on their active rosters on game days; 48 can dress.

The Pats used Folk as their kicker throughout last season and in seven games in 2019. Arriving after Stephen Gostkowski‘s injury ended his 14-year tenure as New England’s kicker, Folk delivered a strong 2020 season by making 92.9% of his field goal attempts. This will be Folk’s 14th NFL season. Because he and Hoyer are elevations and not promotions, neither’s salary is guaranteed for the full season.

Following the Patriots’ release of Cam Newton, Hoyer was set to be Mac Jones‘ backup. The team cut Hoyer recently but re-signed him on a practice squad deal. Hoyer’s promotion has been a formality for a bit. The veteran passer is now on his third stint with the Patriots and will be tasked with mentoring a promising rookie. Jones and Hoyer are the only QBs on the Pats’ active roster. Jarrett Stidham is on the team’s reserve/PUP list, which will keep him off the roster for at least six games.

Cam Newton Off Backup QB Radar?

September 10th, 2021 at 10:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

For the first time in 11 years, an NFL season began without Cam Newton on a roster. His free agent status might not change soon, either.

No team has given serious consideration to adding Newton as a backup, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes. The 10-year veteran quarterback confirmed Friday he is not considering retirement, but it might take an injury to bring about a Newton re-emergence.

Newton, 32, said he was “absolutely” surprised the Patriots cut him but said the team would have made the same decision had he not been forced to spend five days away from New England’s facility due to what the organization called a COVID-19-related misunderstanding. Rather than give the higher-profile passer their backup gig, the Pats released Newton, who said Friday he would have agreed to stay on as Mac Jones‘ backup.

“If they would have asked me, ‘Cam, we’re going to give the team to Mac, you’re going to be second string; we expect you to be everything and some to guide him throughout this tenure,’ I would have said, ‘Absolutely,’” Newton said during a YouTube Live video, via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss. “But listen, the truth of the matter is this: [Jones] would have been uncomfortable.

“… Mac Jones didn’t beat me out. But I would have been a distraction. If they would have gave him the starting role, they knew the perception that it would have had if the success didn’t come.”

Although Newton has never been an NFL backup, he struggled in 2020 and signed for backup-level money earlier this year. The former MVP ranked 29th in cumulative QBR from 2016-19 as well. The Cowboys and Washington said last week they were not interested in Newton, and no team has been linked to the former Pro Bowler yet.

Newton is also unvaccinated, providing another complication for any team interested in adding him as a backup. While NFL protocols for unvaccinated players meant a five-day period away from the Pats, Newton explained his side of the misunderstanding that thrust Jones into first-team practice work late last month. Newton’s out-of-town medical appointment was for a second opinion on the Lisfranc injury that ended his 2019 season and required surgery in December of that year.

“This had nothing to do with no vaccination. They gave me clearance to go. I’m owed a second opinion. This was the last time I felt that I was going to have an opportunity to get a second opinion,” Newton said of the foot issue. “Not to say the personnel with the Patriots wasn’t coherent to telling me everything I needed to know, but having four eyes on it is better than having two eyes on it, in my opinion. It wasn’t that I was having any issues or pain. I just wanted to do a checkup with the person who, in essence, diagnosed me with the Lisfranc. I felt obligated to kind of check back in with a six-month review.

“I crossed all the lines; I checked all the boxes; I dotted all my ‘I’s,’ and then to find out that I had to sit out, that’s when I kind of felt like bamboozled because ‘Y’all told me to go.’ It wasn’t like [the Patriots said], ‘Cam, you know if you go, you’re taking it on your risk.”

Regardless of how Newton’s Pats tenure wrapped, he has seen his stock drop considerably in recent years. The former Heisman winner is running out of time to get his career back on track. But in confirming retirement was not on the table, Newton will surely surface when quarterback injuries occur this season.

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