Patriots cut nine, Drop to 80.

The Patriots decided to go with the 80 man camp instead keeping 90 players and running with two camps. Starting Sunday, the Patriots were sitting at 89 players. This was going to be a tough decision for Belichick as he misses out on a lot of in person training that normally took place in the spring.

So there weren't many if any surprises with the cuts on Sunday. There may have been a player or two cut that Belichick already has enough scouting on to make the practice squad.

At quarterback the Patriots cut Brian Lewerke, who is a Brian Hoyer clone. The Patriots already have Hoyer. Duel threat J'mar Smith also was cut. There were rumors that Smith would be converted to receiver.

The Patriots cut return man Sean Riley, Isaiah Zuber who was a third round prospect according to sports talk line, and Will Hastings. Belichick has been scouting Hastings since high school and just beat out the Giants and Dolphins on signing Hastings as a free agent. If Hastings or Zuber are not claimed, they should find themself on the practice squad.

The Patriots did keep X receiver Jeff Thomas. Thomas is a short speedster who can help the return game but he's got a troubled past. With the lack of production at receiver in 2019,  its surprising to see Thomas being the only one kept.

With the size of the Patriots secondary it wasn't a surprise to see the team cut Malik Gant and Adarius Pickett. The team has enough guys who can ay safety. With the losses at linebacker this offseason, the Patriots have bigger need than safety.

Speaking of linebacker, the Patriots cut Kyahva Tezino.  Not a big loss, however with the departure of the Van Noy, Collins, and Roberts; it is surprising to see the San Deigo State linebacker released.

Another surprise cut was defensive tackle Courtney Wallace. The Patriots need to find a solid run stuffer. The Patriots really don't have a lock to replace Danny Shelton. Even with Shelton, the Patriots had a hole in the middle of that defensive line.

The biggest surprise has to be that JJ Taylor is still on the roster. The Patriots have five other backs. In college, Taylor wasn't a one dimensional back however. The 5'5" 190 LB running back also caught 62 balls for 487 yards and 2 touchdowns. But wait, like an infomercial; there's more. He also average 24.1 yards and 1 touchdown on 41 kickoff returns and had an 8.7 yard average on 3 punt returns. He's a true utility player and by not getting cut should mean that one of the other backs, either Burkhead or Bolden could still be cut.

Quarterbacks are due for covid testing Monday morning and the rest to follow on Tuesday. Football is upon us and with the Toronto Blue Jays already dropping two games with 57 games remaining; we need something to give us hope. Que the Patriots.