On the heels of signing Lavelle Hawkins on Thursday, the New England Patriots have decided to keep only 11 wide receivers heading into training camp, as they have decided to release receiver Andre Holmes. ESPN Boston's Mike Rodak had it first:
The Patriots continued to tweak the back-end of their roster on Friday, releasing WR Andre Holmes, a source confirms.
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) May 11, 2013
Holmes signed with the Patriots following the 2012 regular season and joined the team's practice squad. Before joining them, he spent his first two NFL seasons with the Cowboys, seeing action in seven games. He has a career two catches for 11 receiving yards.
This move really comes as no real surprise, in my mind. The soon-to-be 25-year old Holmes was a real longshot to make the Patriots' roster out of camp. He was going to have to compete against guys like Michael Jenkins and Donald Jones and if he were to even have a prayer of getting into the conversation of making the team.
With Holmes' release, the the Patriots now have eleven wide receivers on their roster, and now have 88 total players on their roster. New England has two open spots to work with before reaching the 90-man limit.