The Patriots used Monday to fill the roster hole they created after releasing linebacker Otis Reese, and the move came on the defensive line. New England signed Casey Rogers after a successful workout, giving head coach Mike Vrabel’s team a new interior body as it continues to sort out its 90-man roster.
That addition leaves the Patriots with 10 defensive tackles on the roster, and the numbers suggest the room may not be settled yet. Rogers and undrafted rookie David Blay Jr. are both listed in No. 96, and Blay Jr. was notably absent from practice on Monday. For now, Rogers is in and Blay Jr.’s situation is unclear.
Rogers is the kind of player who fits as a rotational piece inside, with the best path to snaps coming as a 3-technique. He’s more of a pass rusher than a run stopper, and the athletic profile is the part that jumps off the page: his 9.82 Relative Athletic Score ranked him 34th out of 1,809 defensive tackles coming out of college between 1987 and 2024, the year he entered the league as a rookie free agent.
The challenge for Rogers has been turning that testing into production. Through three career games, he has played only 35 defensive snaps and has yet to record a statistic. He also had a short stint in Buffalo last summer, so this is another fresh start for a player still looking to get his NFL career moving.
There’s at least some built-in familiarity here. Patriots defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr was a defensive assistant with the Giants when they signed the Oregon product as a UDFA in 2024. Shane Bowen, the former Giants defensive coordinator who joined New England as a defensive analyst earlier this offseason, and vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden were also on that New York staff.
That background may not have been the only reason Rogers got the nod over fellow workout participant Jared Penning, but it clearly didn’t hurt. At 27, he arrives with some experience in a similar system, which should make the transition a little smoother.
His arrival also doesn’t change New England’s salary-cap picture. Rogers is the 91st player on the roster when roster-exempt offensive tackle Lorenz Metz is included, and his expected $960,000 minimum salary deal does not count toward Top 51. There are no guarantees in the contract he signed to get to Foxborough.
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