NFL teams do not have to to trim their rosters until next week – August 30th to be exact. The New England Patriots, however, are already starting to let depth players go as the first cutdown day slowly but steadily approaches.
Earlier today, the team cut veteran tight end Bear Pascoe. Now, via Mike Reiss, the team has made another transaction:
Undrafted CB V'Angelo Bentley (Illinois) was informed of his release by the Patriots.
As Reiss noted, the Patriots signed Bentley as a free agent after the 22-year old went undrafted this May. The Illinois product joined a crowded position depth chart and was considered a longshot to make the team. To do so, he needed to stand out on both defense and special teams but apparently has been unable to do that.
Due to the move, the Patriots now have 86 players on their roster, eight of them cornerbacks, and need to release 11 more prior to next week’s first wave of roster cuts.