On the day that the New England Patriots reportedly made a trade for a big name defensive lineman (Albert Haynesworth), they have released another. According to a tweet from Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald, the Patriots have released veteran defensive lineman Marcus Stroud.
In his tweet, Rapoport mentioned that Stroud was being released because his "shoulder had not healed."
As you probably remember, the Patriots first signed back on March 1st. The Patriots signed him to a two year, $2.9 million contract. He was due just $1.2 million in 2011 and $1.8 million in 2012. While Stroud likely would have made for some solid camp competition, with the addition of Albert Haynesworth, the Patriots only had so much room for veteran defensive lineman, especially if they wanted to keep a younger player on the roster such as Brandon Deaderick.
In addition, the Stroud release should give the Patriots a little extra cap space to work with, as the team needs to absorb the contract of Albert Haynesworth, sign the rest of its rookies, and work to re-sign their own free agents as well as possibly acquire some outside help.
Update: Shalise M. Young of the Boston Globe has tweeted that "there's been no transaction with Marcus Stroud at this time...also have been told he's here at Gillette." My interpretation: the team may be placing him on the PUP list or IR instead of outright releasing him. After all, he is on a two year contract.
Update 2: Ian Rapoport has confirmed his story by talking to Stroud himself. So that concludes it: Stroud is done in New England.