The New England Patriots will go into September without last October’s trade arrival.
As reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Media on Wednesday evening, the Patriots plan to release veteran wide receiver Mohamed Sanu.
The 31-year-old Sanu had been acquired from the Atlanta Falcons ahead of the NFL trade deadline for what became pick No. 55 overall in the 2020 draft. Sanu would appear in eight games with New England to close the regular season, recording 26 receptions for 207 yards and one touchdown while working through an ankle injury. In the AFC wild card versus the Tennessee Titans, he’d catch one pass for 11 yards and return one punt for 23 yards.
The Patriots had placed Sanu on physically unable to perform to begin training camp after the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Rutgers product underwent surgery in March. He returned to the practice fields two days later having passed his physical.
Sanu, who entered the league with the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 2012 draft, was scheduled to carry a cap number of $6.5 million into the final year of his contract.
But no guarantees remained. And following his departure from the roster, the Patriots currently hold north of $37 million in cap space, according to PatsCap’s Miguel Benzan.
New England nears Saturday’s 4 p.m. ET cut to 53 players with a wideout depth chart that includes Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Meyers, Damiere Byrd, Gunner Olszewski, Devin Ross and undrafted rookies Jeff Thomas, Isaiah Zuber and Andre Baccellia.