Could 5-time Pro Bowler Elvis Dumervil fit with the Patriots?

It’s not every day that you get your breaking news free agency from a future hall of famer. However, that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday as Steve Smith Sr. broke the news of Elvis Dumervil’s release.

Dumervil, a five-time Pro Bowler with 99 career sacks, is coming off of season in which he played in only eight games after starting the year on the PUP list.

The former Louisville Cardinal’s 5’11” 250-pound frame caused him to slip to the fourth round of the 2006 draft, where he was taken by the Denver Broncos.

Dumervil’s release comes as little surprise to many as the Raven’s saved $5,535,000 on this year’s cap. Having just turned 33 in January, Dumervil will hit an open market that is very thin on quality edge defenders.

It has been well documented that the Patriots only have three edge defenders currently on the 2017 roster — Trey Flowers, Rob Ninkovich, and Geneo Grissom. It would seem that Dumervil fits Bill Belichick’s profile in the sense that he is an aging veteran pass rusher well past the prime of his career, and still looking for a Super Bowl ring. Signing him to an incentive-laden deal would make a lot of sense.

Dumervil is winless in two career playoff matchups against the Patriots. The first coming in a 45-10 drubbing in 2011 while with Denver, and the other being Baltimore’s 2014 AFC Divisional round loss in Foxborough.

If you can’t beat em’ — join em’.

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