FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced today that they have released 24 players and are now at the NFL-mandatory 53-man roster limit.
The following players have been released:
WR Andre Baccellia, TE/DE Rashod Berry, DL Tashawn Bower, OL Ben Braden, DB Myles Bryant, TE Jake Burt, TE Paul Butler, K Nick Folk, OL Tyler Gauthier, LB Terez Hall, LB Scoota Harris, QB Brian Lewerke, LB Cassh Maluia, RB Lamar Miller, DL Bill Murray, TE Paul Quessenberry, K Justin Rohrwasser, DB D'Angelo Ross, WR Devin Ross, RB J.J. Taylor, WR Jeff Thomas, DL Nick Thurman, DL Xavier Williams and WR Isaiah Zuber.
Baccellia, 23, played in 48 games during his collegiate career at Washington and caught with 107 passes for 1,183 yards and five touchdowns and registered ten rushing attempts for 119 yards and one touchdown. The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder played in 11 games as a senior in 2019 and posted 29 receptions for 314 yards and four touchdowns and four rushing attempts for 35 yards and one touchdown.
Berry, 23, spent five years at Ohio State, including his 2015 redshirt year. The 6-foot-4, 255-pounder played in four victories over Michigan and was a part of three consecutive outright Big Ten Conference championship teams. He played on the defensive line and at tight end against both Maryland and Rutgers as a senior. Overall, he played in 50 games with four starts during his college career and caught 17 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns.
Bower, 25, originally signed with the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie free agent out of Louisiana State on May 5, 2017. The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder appeared in seven regular-season games as a reserve over two seasons for the Vikings and totaled seven tackles and one sack. Bower began last season on Minnesota's Non-Football Injury list before being finishing the season on the Patriots practice squad.
Braden, 26, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the New York Jets out of Michigan May 5, 2017. The 6-foot-6, 329-pounder spent the entire 2017 season on the Jets practice squad and split the 2018 season between the practice squad and the 53-man roster for the Jets, seeing action in the final two games of the season. Last year, he spent time on the practice squads for Green Bay and the Jets before being signed to the Jets 53-man roster and seeing action in the regular-season finale.
Bryant, 22, was named All-Pac-12 second team as a senior last season at Washington. The 5-foot-9, 185-pounder played in 50 games and finished with 191 tackles, four interceptions, 20 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries during his collegiate career.
Burt, 24, finished his career at Boston College with 23 receptions for 307 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-foot-3, 260-pounder is a native of Lynnfield, Mass., and attended St. John's Prep in Danvers.
Butler, 27, was originally signed by the Oakland Raiders as a rookie free agent on May 7, 2018, out of California (Pa.). The 6-foot-6, 250-pounder spent the 2018 season on the Raiders practice squad before being signed to the 53-man roster for the final two games of the season, although he was inactive for those games. Butler spent the 2019 season on the Raiders practice squad.
Folk, 35, was re-signed by the Patriots on Aug. 24. The 6-foot-1, 222-pounder played in seven games for the Patriots last season and made 14-of-17 field goals and all 12 extra points. In the postseason, Folk made two field goals and converted on his only extra point attempt. Folk was signed by the New England Patriots as a free agent on Oct. 30, 2019. Folk is a veteran of 12 NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys (2007-09), New York Jets (2010-16), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2017) and the Patriots in 2019. He has played in 161 regular-season games and converted 259-of-322 field-goal attempts and 354-of-358 extra-point attempts for 1,131 career points. He has also appeared in five postseason contests and made 5-of-6 field-goal attempts and all 11 extra-point tries. Folk earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie in 2007 and was selected to the Pro Football Writer's All-Rookie team that season.
Gauthier, 23, was originally signed by New England as a rookie free agent on May 2, 2019, out of Miami (Fla.). The 6-foot-5, 305-pounder was released on Aug, 31, and signed to the practice squad on Oct. 15. Gauthier was signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars 53-man roster from the New England practice squad on Dec. 10, and was inactive for the final three weeks of the season.
Hall, 23, originally joined the Patriots in 2019 as a rookie free agent out of Missouri and spent last year on the practice squad. The 6-foot-2, 235-pounder appeared in 48 games over four seasons at Missouri and registered 186 tackles, six sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. Hall was a team captain as a senior in 2018.
Harris, 22, played in 48 games with 36 starts during his college career at Arkansas and finished with 371 tackles, 7½ sacks, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and nine passes defensed. The 5-foot-11, 234-pounder was an All-SEC second-team selection as a senior in 2019. He finished his career with three straight 100-tackle seasons.
Lewerke, 23, was a three-year starter at Michigan State and finished ranked first in school history in total offense with 9,548 yards (8,293 passing and 1,255 rushing). The 6-foot-3, 216-pounder also finished his career ranked third in school history in starts (38) and wins (22). He also completed his Spartan career ranked first in pass attempts (1,249), second in completions (721) and fourth in passing touchdowns (47).
Maluia, 21, appeared in 50 games over four seasons at Wyoming and posted 198 tackles, 1½ sacks, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, four interceptions and nine passes defensed. The 6-foot, 248-pounder played 13 games as a senior in 2019 and totaled 61 tackles, a half-sack and two interceptions, earning Honorable Mention All Mountain West Conference accolades. He was drafted by New England in the sixth round (204th overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Miller, 29, is a veteran of eight NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins (2012-15) and the Houston Texans (2016-19), who was signed by New England on August 13, 2020. The 5-foot-10, 220-pounder originally entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick (97th overall) by the Miami Dolphins out of Miami (Fla.) in the 2012 NFL Draft. He signed with the Houston as an unrestricted free agent from Miami on March 11, 2016. He has played in 105 regular-season games with 89 starts and has 5,864 rushing yards on 1,354 attempts with 32 touchdowns and 209 receptions for 1,505 yards and eight touchdowns. Miller has also started three postseason contests in his career and has registered 55 rushing attempts for 165 yards with a touchdown and caught 12 passes for 78 yards. Miller spent the 2019 season on injured reserve with the Houston Texans.
Murray, 23, was a two-time All-CAA selection and a three-year starter who finished his career with 143 tackles, 19 sacks, 10 blocks, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and six passes defensed. The 6-foot-4, 265-pounder was a two-year letter winner and served as a team captain as a senior.
Quessenberry, 28, played defensive end in 38 games over four seasons for the Naval Academy form 2011-14. The 6-foot-2, 250 pounder posted 80 tackles, 3½ sacks, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble and two passes defensed during his collegiate career. Quessenberry has spent the last five years in the Marine Corps.
Rohrwasser, 23, began his collegiate career at Rhode Island for two years before transferring to Marshall for his junior and senior seasons. The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder played in 47 games and connected on 48-of-62 field goals (77.4%) and 118-of-123 extra point attempts (95.9%) for 262 total points scored. Rohrwasser played in 13 games for Marshall as a senior last year and was named Conference USA Special Teams Most Valuable Player and earned Conference USA First Team All-Conference honors. He was drafted by New England in the fifth round (159th overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft.
De'Angelo Ross, 23, signed with the Patriots as a rookie free agent in 2019 and spent last season on injured reserve. The 5-foot-9, 190-pounder appeared in 23 games over his junior and senior seasons at New Mexico and totaled 85 tackles, one forced fumble, one interception and 17 passes defensed.
Devin Ross, 23, was signed to the New England practice squad on Oct. 15, 2019. The 5-foot-9, 192-pounder originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Tennessee on May 11, 2018 out of Colorado. He spent the 2018 season on the Tennessee practice squad and part of the 2019 offseason with Philadelphia.
Taylor, 22, ran for 3,263 yards with 18 touchdowns, caught 62 passes for 487 yards with two touchdowns and returned 41 kicks for 988 yards with one touchdown during his career at Arizona. The 5-foot-6, 185-pounder ran for 721 yards with five touchdowns and caught 32 passes for 289 yards as a redshirt junior in 2019.
Thomas, 23, played in 34 collegiate games during his three-year career at Miami and finished with 83 receptions for 1,316 yards and eight touchdowns. He also returned 54 kickoffs for 1,219 yards. The 5-foot-10, 174-pounder saw action in 10 games with seven starts in 2019 and had 31 receptions for 379 yards and three touchdowns.
Thurman, 25, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Houston Texans out of Houston in 2018. The 6-foot-4, 305-pounder was released by Houston prior to the start of the regular season and spent the year out of football. Thurman joined the Patriots in the 2019 offseason and spent the year on the practice squad.
Williams, 28, is a veteran of five NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals (2015-17) and the Kansas City Chiefs (2018-19). The 6-foot-2, 309-pounder has played in 44 regular-season games with six starts and has registered 83 tackles, three sacks and three forced fumbles. In addition, he has played in four postseason games with Kansas City and posted 11 total tackles.
Zuber, 23, played three seasons at Kansas State before spending his final college season at Mississippi State. The 6-foot, 190-pounder left Kansas State with 127 career receptions for 1,321 yards and 11 touchdown receptions, both top-10 marks for the school. As a senior last season, he played in 13 games with three starts and caught 14 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns.
