Patriots Activate Edelman, Cut Barner
New England will venture into its Week 4 game thin at running back, though the Patriots’ wide receiver situation will be in as good of shape as it’s been all year.
Julian Edelman‘s return Thursday night forced the Patriots to make a roster move, and they’re opting to release running back Kenjon Barner, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets. Barner’s bounced on and off the Pats’ roster this season, but his latest departure leaves them thin in the backfield.
With Rex Burkhead and Jeremy Hill on IR, the Patriots will go into their Week 5 Colts matchup with just James White and Sony Michel healthy. That’s a thin contingent of able backs, but both played well last week. Barring injury, the Patriots should be able to navigate this situation. However, either White or Michel going down would bring about some problems.
Barner saw action against the Dolphins, taking three handoffs for 11 yards. He has not, however, worked as a kick or punt returner this season. Those have been his primary responsibilities as an NFLer. That said, the Patriots will surely make a running back transaction in the near future — possibly bringing Barner back again — to round out their roster.
Steelers, Patriots, Saints Wanted Jordan Phillips
Defensive tackle Jordan Phillips is the newest member of the Bills, but a trio of contenders also tried to land him. The Steelers, Patriots, and Saints all put waiver claims in on the former Dolphin, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, but the Bills won out thanks to their higher waiver priority. 
The former second-round pick has struggled with consistency over the last four years, but several teams still believe in his potential. The Patriots’ claim shows that they are less-than-thrilled about their current group of DTs, which consists of Lawrence Guy, Malcom Brown, Danny Shelton, and Adam Butler. Butler likely would have been the odd man out, and Phillips might have had an opportunity to eventually leapfrog Shelton and Brown in the pecking order. Through four weeks, Guy has 19 total tackles and is rated as Pro Football Focus’ No. 4 overall ranked defensive tackle, but the other DTs have something to be desired.
Phillips started most of his games in 2016 and 2017, but was relegated to a reserve role this year in Miami. That didn’t sit well with him – as evidenced by his sideline blowup on Sunday – and that proved to be the last straw for him with the Dolphins. The 1-3 Bills may have a larger role in mind for the 26-year-old.
NFL Workout Updates: 10/3/18
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account:
Detroit Lions
- DBs Kurtis Drummond, Steven Terrell, Jack Tocho, Damarius Travis (link)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- P Brock Miller (link)
New England Patriots
- LB Calvin Munson; DT David Parry (link)
New York Giants
- WR Quadree Henderson (link)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- QB Paxton Lynch; RBs Troymaine Pope; WRs Reggie Davis, DeAngelo Yancey; T Rick Leonard; DT Jamie Meder; LBs Zaire Anderson, Terence Garvin; Ss Marcelis Branch, Isaiah Johnson (link)
Tennessee Titans
- Gs Jordan Morgan, Landon Turner; T Justin Evans (link)
Kenny Britt Files Grievance Against Patriots
Kenny Britt has filed an injury grievance against the Patriots, according to a source who spoke with Ben Volin of The Boston Globe (on Twitter). The wide receiver is seeking his entire $1.05MM salary that was owed to him for the 2018 season. 
The Patriots released Britt on Aug. 22 without an injury designation. That’s a major point of contention for Britt, since a hamstring issue prevented him from taking part in training camp.
Per league rules, 40% of the grievance will impact the Patriots’ salary cap, so the Pats are currently carrying a $420K expense for Britt. That wouldn’t be a big deal for most teams, but it impacts the Patriots as they have just $1.27MM in total cap room.
In the offseason, Britt appeared to be in line for a key role in the Patriots’ offense. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, the Pats were thinking about re-signing Britt, but the Josh Gordon trade derailed those plans.
If Britt returns to full health this year, he could be an interesting pickup for a team in need. His 2017 season was disastrous, but he’s not far removed from his 1,000-yard season with the Rams in 2016.
Patriots Must Cut Player To Make Room For Edelman
- The Dolphins attempted to trade defensive tackle Jordan Phillips before cutting him earlier today, reports Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The news isn’t all that surprising, as most clubs try to deal players before releasing them and receiving no value. However, Phillips has never lived up to his second-round draft status and also had a sideline disagreement with Miami coaches on Sunday, so the trade market for his services wasn’t large. Though four games, Phillips saw action on 124 defensive snaps. He had a season-high 46 snaps in Week 3 against the Raiders, but his usage dropped back down to 25 snaps in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Pats.
- The Patriots will need to make a roster move before activating Julian Edelman off suspension this week, leading Doug Kyed of NESN to look at candidates to be moved off New England’s active roster. The two most obvious players who could be cut are offensive lineman Cole Croston and defensive end Keionta Davis, both of whom were healthy scratches on Sunday. Elsewhere on the roster, defender Geneo Grissom would likely pass through waivers, so the Patriots could waive him and hope to bring him back to their practice squad.
NFL Workout Updates: 10/2/18
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:
Arizona Cardinals
- WR Jordan Leslie (link via Adam Caplan of SiriusXM)
Atlanta Falcons
Cleveland Browns
- LB Junior Sylvestre (link); CBs Sterling Moore, Josh Robinson; K Daniel Carlson, Miles Bergner (link via Caplan)
Denver Broncos
- P Brock Miller (link)
Detroit Lions
- RB Akeem Hunt; C Jake Eldrenkamp; Ts Antonio Garcia, De’Ondre Wesley; G Landon Turner (link)
Green Bay Packers
- LBs Josh Carraway, Aaron Wallace (link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com)
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
- RBs Matthew Dayes, Orleans Darkwa (link via Caplan)
Los Angeles Chargers
- LBs Jonathan Celestin, Tre’von Johnson; P Shane Tripucka; LS Taybor Pepper (link)
Los Angeles Rams
- LB Anthony Winbush; DBs Xavier Coleman, Ranthony Texada; K Kai Forbath
Miami Dolphins
- Gs Austin Davis, J.J. Dielman; Cs Dillon Day, T.J. Johnson, Jon Toth; T Gerhard de Beer; DTs Xavier Cooper, Will Sutton (link)
Minnesota Vikings
- DE Terrence Fede; LB Tyrone Holmes (link)
New England Patriots
- T Andrew Nelson (link)
New Orleans Saints
- G/T Oday Aboushi; Ts Chaz Green, Austin Howard; Gs Jordan Morgan, Isaiah Williams; CBs De’Vante Bausby, Jeremy Boykins, Byron Maxwell (link)
New York Jets
Oakland Raiders
- DEs Damontre Moore, Jacquies Smith; LBs Travis Feeney, Edmond Robinson; K Nick Novak (link via Caplan)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- CB Herb Waters (link)
Seattle Seahawks
- WR Keon Hatcher; DE Hau’oli Kikaha; LB Chris Odom; CB Kalan Reed; Ss Maurice Alexander, Eddie Pleasant, Jeremy Reaves (link)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- CB Josh Shaw; S A.J. Howard (link)
Tennessee Titans
- QB Garrett Gilbert; WRs Aaron Burbridge, Reggie Davis, Damoun Patterson; LB Antwione Williams (link)
Ingram, Edelman To Return In Week 5
As we approach Week 5 of the NFL season, several NFL players are returning from four-game bans. As noted by Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter), that list includes notables such as Saints running back Mark Ingram, Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, Cowboys defensive tackle David Irving, Chargers defensive tackle Corey Liuget, Colts running back Robert Turbin, Raiders cornerback Daryl Worley, Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith. 
Players do not count against a team’s roster max while suspended, so clubs will have to make room for these players before adding them for Week 5. There will be some tough decisions to make, but the upside is clear in most of these cases, particularly when it comes to offensive weapons like Ingram and Edelman or defensive pillars like Burfict and Irving.
Alvin Kamara should remain the focal point of the Saints’ running game, but the return of Ingram will give opposing defenses something else to think about. And, as we saw in the first three weeks of the Patriots’ season, Edelman has been sorely missed.
Patriots Notes: Gordon, Cooks, Gronk
New Patriots wideout Josh Gordon will make his New England debut today, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). Gordon was inactive for last week’s loss against the Lions, but the Pats are sorely in need of some playmaking ability at the wide receiver position, and Gordon certainly has the potential to give them exactly that.
Let’s take a quick look at a few more notes out of Foxboro as the Patriots get set to take on the Dolphins in what could surprisingly be a pivotal divisional matchup:
- Speaking of playmaking wideouts, given the disappointing performance of New England’s receiving corps thus far, plenty are wondering whether the Pats were right to trade Brandin Cooks to the Rams in the offseason. When factoring in what the team netted in its trade to acquire Cooks from the Saints in 2017 and the trade that sent him to LA, Doug Kyed of NESN.com believes the Patriots were right to make the move. The Pats ultimately received a year of Cooks, a 2017 third-round pick, the 2018 No. 23 overall pick, and a 2018 sixth-rounder in exchange for another year of Cooks, a 2017 fourth-round pick, the 2017 No. 32 overall pick, and a 2018 fourth-round pick. That represents good value, especially when considering the Pats would have had to pay Cooks $8.5MM this year and might have received a 2020 compensatory third-rounder if they let him walk in free agency (which they almost certainly would have). Plus, New England could not have predicted the Julian Edeleman suspension, so even though the results might indicate the Cooks trade was a bad one with the benefit of hindsight, Kyed believes the process was right.
- The Patriots have already put nine players on IR since the start of training camp, as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com observes. Reiss points out that the team put just 11 players on IR all of last season, and just four during the 2016 Super Bowl season. Reiss notes that only Rex Burkhead and Duke Dawson are the only two players who could realistically return from IR in 2018.
- In light of last week’s Rob Gronkowski trade reports, Reiss points out that there had not been much communication between Gronk and the Pats before the star tight end was informed of the potential trade to Detroit. Reiss wonders whether New England really would have pulled the trigger on the deal, or if it simply used the trade as a way to reignite conversations with Gronkowski
- Reiss also notes that last week’s AFC Defensive Player of the Week, the Bills’ Matt Milano, was drafted by Buffalo with the fifth-rounder it acquired from the Pats when New England signed then-RFA Mike Gillislee. Needless to say, that transaction looks like a big win for the Bills right now.
- The Patriots cut Gordon’s former Browns teammate, Corey Coleman, from their practice squad yesterday.
Patriots Cut Corey Coleman From P-Squad
Corey Coleman‘s stock has plummeted considerably over the past two months. The 2016 first-round pick had already gone from the Browns’ wide receiver rotation to being traded for a seventh-round pick to ending up on a practice squad.
Now, the Patriots are cutting the third-year wideout from their 10-man practice squad, Field Yates of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
Coleman wound up on New England’s taxi squad after the Pats cut him from their active roster to make room for his former Browns teammate, Josh Gordon. Coleman did not play in a game for the Patriots this season and is now unattached again.
This marks the third team to jettison 2016’s first receiver drafted. The Bills waived Coleman soon after trading for him. The Baylor product started eight games for the 2017 Browns but managed only 305 receiving yards after showing some promise early in his rookie season.
Patriots Notes: Kraft, McClellin, Rowe
Back in January, an explosive piece from ESPN.com detailed a major rift within the Patriots organization. Since that time, there have been continued whispers about the tension in Foxborough, particularly between head coach Bill Belichick and franchise quarterback Tom Brady. Owner Robert Kraft has continually denied those rumors, and he did that once again on Friday. Appearing on CNBC, Kraft attributed the reports to “envy and jealousy.”
“We’ve been together 19 years, which is unheard of for a head coach, a quarterback and an ownership group,” Kraft said (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “Thankfully, we have had a lot of success and whenever that happens you become a target. We understand that and there is always tensions and issues and different things you’ve got to deal with. That is part of the privilege of owning a team and being successful. I have a little saying that envy and jealously are incurable diseases. You’d rather be a recipient than a donor. That is what is going on now.”
A new book by ESPN’s Ian O’Connor has renewed interest in the dynamic between Belichick and Brady. In “Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time,”O’Connor reports that Brady would “divorce” Belichick if he could, but feared alienating New England fans after the Patriots traded backup (and possible successor) Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers last season.
Let’s take a look at some more notes out of New England…
- Ben Volin of the Boston Globe tweets that retired Patriots linebacker Shea McClellin filed for Injury Protection last night, which entitles him “to 50 percent of the base salary he was supposed to make this year.” Therefore, the team ended up losing another $1.075MM worth of cap space, dropping them down to $1.17MM of room. As Volin observes, it’s an interesting predicament for the Patriots, who haven’t been so close to the cap in at least a half decade. The team doesn’t have a whole lot of high-priced players, leading the reporter to wonder whether the issue is by design or due to “poor cap management.”
- Eric Rowe returned to practice yesterday, but Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal points out that the cornerback was limited after having missed the past two sessions. It’s still no guarantee that the 25-year-old will end up playing this weekend, and he’s currently listed as questionable (along with 10 other teammates, including tight end Rob Gronkowski, offensive lineman Marcus Cannon, safety Patrick Chung, and defensive end Trey Flowers).
- Despite adding Josh Gordon to the mix, the Patriots are still eyeing some reinforcement as wide receiver. Over the past week, the team has auditioned three wideouts: Breshad Perriman, Jeremy Kerley, and Dontrelle Inman.