FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced today a series of roster moves to reach the mandatory 53-man roster limit. The Patriots released 24 players and placed two players on injured reserve.
RESERVE LISTS
The Patriots placed DL Henry Anderson and WR Kristian Wilkerson on injured reserve.
RELEASED PLAYERS
The Patriots released the following players: TE Devin Asiasi, DB Justin Bethel, OL Drew Desjarlais, OL Yasir Durant, OL James Ferentz, OL Arlington Hambright, WR Josh Hammond, RB Kevin Harris, DB Brad Hawkins, WR Lil'Jordan Humphrey, LB Harvey Langi, LB Cameron McGrone, CB Terrance Mitchell, OL Bill Murray, WR Tre Nixon, DL Jeremiah Pharms Jr., DL LaBryan Ray, OL Kody Russey, OL Will Sherman, TE Matt Sokol, RB J.J. Taylor, K Tristan Vizcaino, LB Nate Wieland and TE Jalen Wydermyer.
Asiasi, 25, was originally drafted by New England in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft (91st overall) out of UCLA. The 6-foot-3, 257-pounder has played in 10 games with three starts and caught 2 passes for 39 yards and one touchdown in his two seasons with the Patriots.
Bethel, 32, is a veteran of 10 NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals (2012-17), Atlanta Falcons (2018), Baltimore Ravens (2019) and New England (2019-21). The 6-foot, 200-pounder was originally drafted by Arizona in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft (177th overall) out of Presbyterian. Bethel was signed by New England on October 23, 2019. Overall, he has played in 159 regular season games with 14 starts and has 102 total tackles, four interceptions with three returned for touchdowns and 129 total tackles. He earned three straight Pro Bowl berths as a special teams player from 2013 through 2015.
Desjarlais, 25, was signed by New England to a future contract on January, 27, 2022. The 6-foot-2, 313-pounder was drafted by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League in the first round (4th overall) in the 2019 Draft out of Windsor. He played in all 18 games with 10 starts during his first season. After the 2020 season was canceled, Desjarlais played in all 14 games during a shortened 2021 season and earned a West Division All-Star selection after helping the Blue Bombers win the Grey Cup.
Durant, 24, was acquired by New England in a trade with Kansas City in exchange for a 2022 seventh-round draft pick on August 31, 2021. The 6-foot-7, 330-pounder originally signed with Kansas City as a rookie free agent out of Missouri in 2020. Overall, he has played in 19 games with two starts in the regular season and here postseason games. Last season, he played in eight games with one start for New England and played in a reserve role in the postseason.
Ferentz, 33, has accrued six seasons of NFL experience over the past eight years with Houston (2014), Denver (2015-16) and New England (2017-21). The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder has played in 48 regular season games with six starts and two postseason games as a reserve during his career. Ferentz originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Houston out of Iowa on May 16, 2014. Following his rookie season on the Texans practice squad and two years with the Broncos, Ferentz originally signed with New England on May 18, 2017.
Hambright, 26, was signed by New England to a future contract on January 18, 2022. The 6-foot-5, 315-pounder originally entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick (226th overall) by Chicago in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Colorado. He played in nine games with one start at left guard during his rookie season for the Bears. He was released by Chicago on Aug. 31, 2021 and spent the season on the practice squad. Hambright was elevated to the active roster and dressed but did not play at Tampa Bay on Oct. 24.
Hammond, 24, was signed by New England on July 29, 2022. The 6-foot, 194-pounder originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Florida on April 27, 2020. He spent the majority of the last two seasons on the Jacksonville practice squad. Hammond was elevated to the active roster for two games last season, seeing limited action at the New York Jets on Dec. 26 and vs. Indianapolis on Jan. 9. He was released by Jacksonville on May 16, 2022, claimed off waivers by Philadelphia on May 17 and then released on July 26.
Harris, 21, was drafted by New England in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft (183rd overall) out of South Carolina. The 5-foot-10, 225-pounder finished his three-year college career with 1,976 yard and 18th on the school's all-time list.
Hawkins, 24, was signed by New England on August 2, 2022. The 6-foot-1, 221-pounder was originally signed by the Atlanta Falcons as a rookie free agent out of Michigan on May 2, 2022 and released by Atlanta on July 11. He played in a program-record 56 career games during five seasons at Michigan and finished with 178 total tackles, eight passes defensed, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Humphrey, 24, was signed by New England as a free agent on June 16, 2022. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder originally signed with the New Orleans Saints as a rookie free agent out of Texas in 2019. He has played in 18 games with six starts for the Saints over the last three seasons and has accumulated 16 receptions for 295 yards and three touchdowns. He has also played in two postseason games with one reception for 14 yards. Humphrey rotated between the practice squad and active roster over his first two seasons and then played in 10 games with four starts in 2021, finishing with 13 receptions for 249 yards and two touchdowns.
Langi, 29, had two different stints with New England after originally signing with the team as a rookie free agent out of Brigham Young in 2017 and then re-signing with the team as a free agent on May 10, 2021. The 6-foot-2, 250-pounder also spent time with the New York Jets from 2018 through 2020. Overall, he has played in 38 regular season games with 10 starts and has totaled 66 tackles, two passes defensed, one fumble recovery and 14 special teams tackles. Last season, he was limited to seven games with one start before finishing the year on injured reserve.
McGrone, 22, was drafted by New England in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft (177th overall) out of Michigan. The 6-foot-1, 236-pounder was placed on the Reserve/NFI list on Aug. 31, 2021 and missed his rookie season.
Mitchell, 30, a veteran of eight NFL seasons with Chicago (2014-15), Dallas (2015), Kansas City (2016-17), Cleveland (2018-20) and Houston (2021), was signed by New England as a free agent on March 16, 2022. The 5-foot-11, 191-pounder originally entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick by Dallas (254th overall) out of Oregon in the 2014 NFL Draft. Overall, Mitchell has played in 83 regular-season games with 51 starts and has registered 266 total tackles, one sack, eight interceptions, 59 passes defensed, nine forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. In addition, he has played in four postseason games with three starts and has 14 total tackles.
Murray, 25, originally joined New England as a rookie free agent out of William & Mary in 2020 and has spent the last two seasons on the practice squad. The 6-foot-4, 265-pounder moved to the offensive line from the defensive line this past summer.
Nixon, 24, was drafted by New England in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft (242nd overall) out of Central Florida. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder spent the entire 2021 season on the practice squad. He began his career at Ole Miss before transferring to Central Florida.
Pharms Jr., 25, was signed by New England on July 19, 2022. The 6-foot-3, 275-pounder was drafted by the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL out of Friends University where he finished the season with 32 tackles and two sacks in 10 games.
Ray, 24, was signed by New England as a rookie free agent out of Alabama on May 9, 2022. The 6-foot-4, 290-pounder played in 44 games during his five-year college career and finished with 76 total tackles and six sacks.
Russey, 24, was signed by New England as a rookie free agent out of Houston on May 9, 2022. The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder started his college career at Louisiana Tech, where he started 46 games at center. He transferred to Houston in 2021 and started 14 games at center.
Sherman, 23, was drafted by New England in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft (197th overall) out of Colorado. The 6-foot-4, 310 spent last season on the practice squad, but was elevated to the active roster at Houston on Oct. 10 and saw action on special teams.
Sokol, 26, was claimed off waivers and awarded to New England from Detroit on May 11, 2022. The 6-foot-5, 249-pounder originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Los Angeles Chargers out of Michigan State in 2019. He has spent time in training camp and on the practice squad of the Chargers, Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2020, he was elevated by the Chargers to the 53-man roster for two games.
Taylor, 24, was originally signed by New England as a rookie free agent out of Arizona in 2020. The 5-foot-6, 185-pounder, has played in 11 games over the last two seasons with 42 rushing attempts for 147 yards and two touchdowns and five receptions for 12 yards. He has also returned five kicks for 112 yards and one punt for 11 yards.
Vizcaino, 26, who has spent time in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers, was signed by New England on June 10, 2022. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder has played in seven NFL games and is 9-of-10 on field goal attempts and 12-of-17 on extra points in games with the 49ers and Chargers. He did not sign with an NFL team following his college career at Washington but did sign a futures contract with Cincinnati on Feb. 2, 2019.
Wieland, 23, signed with New England as a rookie free agent out of Grand View on August 3, 2022. The 6-foot-1, 223-pounder played last season at Grand View University and helped the school to a 14-1 record and berth in the NAIA FCS Championship game. He originally signed with Iowa out of high school but was slowed by injuries and transferred to Iowa Western Community College.
Wydermyer, 21, was originally signed by the Buffalo Bills as a rookie free agent out of Texas A&M on August 14, 2022. The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder was released by Buffalo on August 14 and then was signed by New England on August 18. Wydermyer ended his three-year college career as the all-time leader among Texas A&M tight ends in career receptions (118), receiving yards (1,468) and touchdown receptions (16).
