Patriots’ James Develin Retires From NFL
James Develin is calling it a career. On Monday, Develin announced his retirement from the sport via Instagram. 
[RELATED: Bill Belichick On QB Plans]
“Due to unforeseen complications with the injury that ended my season last year, I have decided it is both in my and my family’s best interest to retire from the game of football,” Develin wrote. “I’ve always maintained a believe that, in the sport, the team is much more important than myself as an individual. That belief still rings true, as I have to prioritize my team at home before anything else.”
Develin’s season ended in September after he suffered a neck injury. After thinking it over, Develin decided to move on rather than jeopardize his health further.
Develin signed his first NFL deal with the Bengals, but he has played every pro down with the Patriots. Save for the 2015 season he lost to injury, Develin appeared in every regular season game for the Pats between 2013 and 2018. In 2017, he earned his first career Pro Bowl nomination. In 2018, he inked a two-year contract extension, taking him through the 2020 season.
The 31-year-old (32 in July) didn’t see lots of targets in the Patriots’ offense, but he always provided reliable blocking. In ’17, for example, he graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 2 ranked run blocker among all qualified fullbacks and fourth amongst FBs in his blocking. Many teams have gotten away from using a fullback, but Develin bucked the trend as a throwback and an underrated part of the Pats’ game plan.
Even though Develin won’t be with the Patriots this year, he’ll be cheering them on from afar.
“Thank you to New England and Pats nation for your continued support of my team,” Develin wrote. “I look forward to continuing to support them right along with you.”
Patriots To Release Obi Melifonwu
The Patriots are cutting safety Obi Melifonwu, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The former second-round pick of the Raiders will try to get his career back on track with another team in 2020.
[RELATED: Patriots Pass On Draft QBs, Sign UDFA Brian Lewerke]
Melifonwu didn’t see much playing time in his first year with Oakland due to injury. He finished out his rookie year with seven tackles in five games and two separate IR stints. After his release and injury settlement, he worked out for the Cowboys, Chiefs, Saints, and other clubs before hooking on with the Pats. Now that the Patriots are putting him back on the curb, those other clubs could revisit the safety as a low-cost and low-risk addition to the 90-man roster.
Melifonwu spent time on the Patriots’ taxi squad last year and re-upped with the team on a futures deal in January. After the Pats used a second-round pick to select Kyle Dugger out of D-II Lenoir-Rhyne University, they didn’t have a place for the 26-year-old.
AFC East Rumors: Dolphins, Wilson, Patriots, Jets
After Day 3 of the draft, the Dolphins added some safety depth and special teams help by picking up Kavon Frazier. But, before that, the Dolphins chatted with ex-Patriots safety Tavon Wilson about a minimum salary contract, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (on Twitter) hears. Wilson, who is presumably gunning for a better deal, declined.
With that, Frazier will fight for his place in the Dolphins’ sardine-packed safety group. Meanwhile, the 30-year-old Wilson will look for his next opportunity. Last year, Wilson made 13 starts for Detroit and registered 98 tackles, five passes defensed, two fumble recoveries, and one sack. Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus ranked him as the No. 26 safety in the entire NFL. Still, he hasn’t been able to score an offer to his liking and he hasn’t heard much, if anything, from the incumbent Lions.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- The Jets‘ draft has drawn positive reviews from most in the football world, but ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini isn’t sure if they did enough to strengthen the cornerback position. Jets GM Joe Douglas waited until the fifth round to take a corner and, when they did, they tapped Virginia product Bryce Hall, is coming off of ankle surgery. As Hall heals up, the Jets may look to explore what’s left of the league’s free agent cornerbacks.
- Did the Patriots reach with third-round tight ends Devin Asiasi (UCLA) and Dalton Keene (Virginia Tech) in the third round? Mel Kiper Jr. and one scout that spoke with ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss say that’s the case, though Reiss notes that they were both near the top of the Pats’ TE board heading into draft weekend. On the whole, this was viewed as a soft TE class, but that was one of the Pats’ biggest needs. Of course, they’d be in a much better spot if Rob Gronkowski opted to make his return with New England. Instead, Gronk will reunite with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.
- On draft week, the Bills picked up Tre’Davious White‘s fifth-year option, a no-brainer move that will keep him in the fold through the 2021 season.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/26/20
Today’s minor moves:
Green Bay Packers
- Signed exclusive rights tenders: WR Jake Kumerow, DT Tyler Lancaster
Houston Texans
- Signed: LS Anthony Kukwa
New England Patriots
- Released: Keionta Davis
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Released: RB Darrin Hall, WR Jamal Custis, S Tray Matthews
Davis signed with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2017, and spent two of the past three seasons on injured reserve. He played a significant role on the 2018 team, starting three out of the six games he appeared in and winning Super Bowl LIII with the team. He was just re-signed last month, but didn’t last long.
All three of the players Pittsburgh cut spent time on their practice squad last year, but none of them have appeared in a regular season game yet.
Patriots Sign Brian Lewerke
The Patriots surprisingly opted not to draft a quarterback this weekend, but they’ve now signed a pair of passers who went undrafted. New England has inked former Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke to a free agent deal, his agent Mike McCartney tweeted.
The Patriots agreed to terms with former Louisiana Tech signal-caller J’Mar Smith last night. Lewerke had a bumpy career in the Big Ten, to say the least. He showed flashes of brilliance as a sophomore and was buzzed about as a potential future early draft pick, leading to a lot of excitement heading into 2018. A shoulder injury derailed that campaign, and his stats were awful when he was on the field as he threw 11 interceptions and only eight touchdowns while completing just 54.3 percent of his passes.
He bounced back a bit this past season but still wasn’t great, finishing with 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He finished with a career 57.7 percent completion percentage, and never had a year above 59.6. He’s pretty mobile however, as he finished last year with 363 rushing yards and another three scores.
Another thing working in Lewerke’s favor is that he at least had the largest hands of any quarterback at the combine, clocking in at 10 5/8 inches. The Pats have very little certainty at the position, with Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer, Smith, and now Lewerke on the roster. If they don’t add an established veteran like Andy Dalton or Cam Newton soon, it’s going to be a free for all whenever training camp gets underway.
Bill Belichick On Not Adding QB In Draft
We heard last month that Jarrett Stidham, a fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft, is in the driver’s seat to open the 2020 season as the Patriots’ starting QB. But we also heard that New England was all but certain to select a rookie passer in this year’s draft in either the first round or with a mid-round choice, and that did not happen.
The Pats had the opportunity to select Utah State QB Jordan Love with the No. 23 overall pick, but they shipped that selection to the Chargers. They also had multiple chances to select passers like Jacob Eason and Jake Fromm, but they instead chose to address their defense and their thin TE depth chart.
So one of the big winners on draft night was Stidham, whom many believe is better than Love and the other QBs in this year’s class outside of the consensus top-three. Still, the fact that New England completely avoided the quarterback position until it agreed to sign UDFA J’Mar Smith came as a surprise to many, and head coach Bill Belichick was asked about the team’s approach in that regard.
“If we feel like we find the right situation, we’ll certainly draft [quarterbacks],” Belichick said (via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com). “We’ve drafted them in multiple years, multiple points in the draft. Didn’t work out the last three days. That wasn’t by design. We just tried to do the best we could with what we had this weekend.”
Belichick stopped short of anointing Stidham the starter, however. “Jarrett had a good year last year,” the legendary HC said. “He improved a lot. We’ll see where that takes him.”
Per Reiss, Belichick also expressed confidence in veteran Brian Hoyer, who may be more suited to start at least the early stages of the 2020 season if Stidham is unable to get the necessary training camp reps due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The club could theoretically pursue a player like Cam Newton or Andy Dalton, but rumors connecting those two to Foxborough have generally been shot down.
Another speculative fit, Jameis Winston, came off the board earlier today.
Patriots Sign Louisiana Tech QB J’Mar Smith
The Patriots finally added a quarterback. After surprisingly opting not to pick a passer during the draft, New England has signed former Louisiana Tech quarterback J’Mar Smith as an undrafted free agent, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).
It was widely reported that the Patriots would be drafting a quarterback at some point, but that never materialized. It’s still unclear what exactly Bill Belichick is planning on doing to replace Tom Brady, and Smith certainly isn’t going to be the solution. As a redshirt senior and three-year starter at Louisiana Tech, he’ll at least bring plenty of experience. Smith had his best statistical campaign this past season, when he passed for 2,977 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.
A pretty mobile quarterback, he added 264 yards and another four scores on the ground. Smith is now only the third signal-caller on the Pats’ offseason roster behind Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer. If they don’t add another veteran, he should have a decent chance of making the team or practice squad. The real question now is whether Belichick will go after a high-profile free agent vet like Cam Newton, trade for one like Andy Dalton, or stick with the in-house options.
Patriots Draft Kicker In Fifth Round; Still Haven’t Selected QB
The Patriots found a new kicker in the fifth round, selecting Marshall’s Justin Rohrwasser with the No. 159 overall pick. Rohrwasser is the first kicker to be selected in the 2020 draft. Meanwhile, they’ve yet to draft a new quarterback.
No one’s exactly sure what the Patriots are going to do under center as they get set for life without Tom Brady. Even though it would have been a very un-Bill Belichick move, some speculated that the Patriots could consider a bold trade up the board for the likes of Tua Tagovailoa or, more realistically, tapped a mid-round QB like Washington’s Jacob Eason. Instead, they’re holding off.
Even if the Patriots select a QB in the late stages of the draft, they’ll finish the weekend with Brian Hoyer penciled in as their QB1. That doesn’t mean their out of other options, of course. Former MVP Cam Newton and former No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston are still available. There are also some notable arms available via trade, including longtime Bengals starter Andy Dalton.
Jets Trade No. 101 To Patriots
There were a handful of trades last night after we signed off, and one of them included two division rivals. ESPN’s Field Yates reported (via Twitter) that the Jets and Patriots made the following swap:
Patriots acquire:
- No. 101
Jets acquire:
- No. 125
- No. 129
- 2021 6th Round Pick
The Patriots ended up using their newfound third-rounder on Virginia Tech tight end Dalton Keene.
This was actually the second time on Friday that New England traded up to take a tight end. Earlier in the night, they acquire No. 91 from the Raiders and took UCLA’s Devin Asiasi. As many pundits have pointed out, this is the first time the Patriots have taken a pair of tight ends in one draft since selecting Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez back in 2010.
Ryan Izzo and Matt LaCosse are currently the only veteran tight ends on New England’s roster, so there’s a good chance the two rookies will see plenty of targets from Jarrett Stidham next season.
Patriots Trade Up To Raiders’ No. 91, Draft TE Devin Asiasi
The Patriots swung a deal to move up to the Raiders’ No. 91 overall pick, bringing them back into the third round.
Patriots acquire:
- No. 91
- No. 159
Raiders acquire:
- No. 100
- No. 139
- No. 172
With the 91st pick, the Patriots selected tight end Devin Asiasi, their first offensive player of draft weekend. Asiasi offers speed and good blocking technique, but scouts say he needs to spend some time pumping iron in order to adjust to the pro game.
The UCLA product figures to play a key role for the Pats in 2020, but you can expect them to explore veteran options between now and the start of the season. Trey Burton, Jordan Reed, and Charles Clay are among the free agent tight ends still left on the market.