After a preseason matchup with the Cleveland Browns, the New England Patriots are headed into roster-cut season, and the numbers are already clear: they have 37 moves to make before the NFL’s deadline on Sunday, Aug. 30, at 6 p.m. ET.
Most of those decisions will come in the simplest form - cutting players - but the process is not one-size-fits-all. Some players will be released and immediately become free agents. Others will be waived first, meaning they have to clear the waiver wire before they can hit the open market.
That distinction matters. It determines who can be claimed by another team, who can sign anywhere right away, and where the Patriots may have to wait before knowing which of their depth players are staying in the organization and which are gone.
The waiver wire is the NFL’s claim system for players who do not have enough accrued service time to be released outright. When a player is waived, every team has a shot at him and his current contract. Claims are filed at the same time, but only the team highest in the waiver order gets the player.
Right now, that order is tied to the NFL Draft order from this past April, without trades included. For the preseason and the first three weeks of the regular season, that means the Las Vegas Raiders are first in line. The New England Patriots sit 31st, just ahead of the Seattle Seahawks.
If multiple teams submit claims for the same player, the league goes by that order. So if the Patriots and Seahawks both put in a claim, New England would get the player because it has the better position.
The players who go straight to free agency are the vested veterans - anyone with at least four years of accrued NFL service time. Once they are released, their contract is over and they can sign with any team immediately.
Players with less than four years of service time are waived instead. If they clear waivers without being claimed, they become free agents and can sign wherever they want, including back to a former team’s practice squad.
For the Patriots, that means 40 of their depth players - not including starters and primary backups, or “roster locks” - will first have to pass through waivers before they can reach free agency. The list includes quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, edge players, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties.
The Patriots’ waiver group is:
QB Mehren Morton
RB Lan Larison
RB Jam Miller
WR Cameron Dorner
WR Kyle Dixon
WR Nick DeGennaro
WR Tejhaun Palmer
TE Tanner Arkin
TE Jack Westover
TE C.J. Dippre
OT Dametrious Crownover
OT Lorenz Metz
OL Jacob Rizy
OL Joseph Michalski
OL Darrian Dalcourt
OL Jack Conley
OL Mehki Butler
OL JonDarius Morgan
DT Eric Gregory
DT Isaiah Iton
DT Jeremiah Pharms Jr.
DT Casey Rogers
DT Leonard Taylor III
ED Bradyn Swinson
ED Xavier Holmes
ED Quintayvious Hutchins
ED Amari Gainer
LB Khalil Jacobs
LB Namdi Obiazor
LB Riley Wilson
CB Karon Prunty
CB Charles Woods
CB Kobee Minor
CB Channing Canada
CB Marcellas Dial Jr.
CB Brandon Crossley
S Dell Pettus
S John Saunders Jr.
S Eric Butler
S Peter Manuma
There are also seven Patriots depth players who are vested veterans and would not go on waivers if released. They would become free agents immediately and could sign with any team of their choosing.
That group is:
RB JaMycal Hasty
RB Hassan Haskins
OT James Hudson III
OL Greg Van Roten
LB Chad Muma
LB K.J. Britt
CB Kindle Vildor
Teams can claim as many players as they want through waivers, but roster math still applies. A club may need to make corresponding moves to fit a new addition onto its 53-man roster and under the salary cap.
The Patriots have not finished sorting through all of it yet. To keep up with every cut and claim as the deadline hits, the team’s roster decisions will continue to unfold over the next day.
In Other News...
Patriots May Have Just Revealed Their Safest Roster Spots
Ahead of the Patriots preseason finale against the Browns, Mike Vrabel made the most telling roster move of the week before a snap was even taken: no starters were going to play. With several notable receivers and tight ends already spotted on the sideline in street clothes, the message was hard to miss. This was less about evaluation in the final exhibition and more about confirming what the staff already seems to know about who belongs on this team.
For a roster still headed toward final cuts, those absences offered a useful peek at the safest spots on the depth chart. When a coaching staff chooses caution over one more look in August, it usually means the competition has already started to narrow in other areas. The Patriots still have decisions to make, but the way they handled the Browns game suggested some of the clearest answers may already be in place. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Roster Battles Suddenly Feel Bigger After Flat Preseason Finish
The Patriots closed out their 2026 preseason with a 37-13 loss to the Browns, a game that mostly featured backups and rookies with many of New Englands starters sitting out. Cleveland put 27 points on the board in the first half, leaving the Patriots to spend one last August night sorting through depth-chart questions rather than building much momentum.
Kyle Williams at least kept giving the staff something to think about, with the second-year wide receiver finding the end zone in each of the teams three preseason games. Even in a preseason finale that turned flat quickly, performances like that tend to linger as the roster decisions tighten, especially for players trying to turn late-summer production into a real role once the games count. [Read more 🡒]
Vrabel Put Patriots Effort And Execution On Notice After Ugly Loss
Mike Vrabel did not sugarcoat the Patriots 37-13 preseason loss to the Browns, framing his postgame assessment in the blunt terms that have quickly become part of his coaching identity. He broke the performance into three buckets - good, bad and the kind of stuff that gets you beat - and the middle two categories had plenty of company after a night when New England struggled in the situations that matter most, especially on third downs and in the red zone.
The encouraging part for the Patriots is that they walked away without any major injuries, and the core roster was not on the field for this one. Even so, Vrabel made it clear the issues went beyond the scoreboard, pointing to a lack of energy and competitiveness that stood out in an ugly showing. With more meaningful preseason reps still ahead, the expectation is that New England will look more like itself soon, but this was the kind of performance that puts effort and execution under a harsher spotlight. [Read more 🡒]