New England Patriots Roster Cuts Candidates: Odds For Top Names

Fact Checked by Thomas Leary

Now that the NFL Draft has come and gone and summer practices are about to unfold across the country, itā€™s worth pondering which members of the New England Patriots wonā€™t be for much longer.  

The Patriots are starting anew after 24 years under the leadership of Bill Belichick, who left Foxborough unceremoniously at the end of last season and was replaced by his former team captain, Jerod Mayo.  

Mayo takes over after working as the teamā€™s inside linebackers coach from 2019 to 2023, with the Virginia native playing for the Patsā€™ from 2008 to 2015, winning the NFLā€™s Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2008 and making the Pro Bowl twice.  

Now, Mayo and his staff are tasked with slimming New Englandā€™s roster down to the 53-man limit imposed by the NFL league office, which is easier said than done when you have a team full of former college stars to choose from.  

With the post-June 1st deadline allowing teams to cut players and save more salary, BetMassachusetts.com developed hypothetical odds of players to be cut from the Patriots roster prior to the 2024 NFL season. Only players over $950K in cap hit were included.  

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New England Patriots Roster Cut Odds

Player 

Cap Hit 

Savings (If Cut) 

Odds To Be Cut 

Percent Chance To Be Cut 

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster 

$10.2M 

$640K 

+150 

40.0% 

WR Tyquan Thornton 

$1.9M 

$1.3M 

-475 

82.6% 

LB Raekwon McMillan 

$1.2M 

$945K 

-105 

51.3% 

OL Vederian Lowe 

$985K 

$985K 

-750 

88.2% 

QB Bailey Zappe 

$985K 

$985K 

-1250 

92.6% 

Odds provided by BetMassachusetts.com and not available at MA betting apps.

Bailey Zappe In Trouble

It looks like the leading candidates to leave New England are veteran wideouts like JuJu Smith-Schuster, who has a salary cap hit of $10.2 million, and former starters under Belichick that carry much lower hits like quarterback Bailey Zappe and offensive lineman Vederian Lowe. 

Zappe and Lowe each carry hits of $985,000 against the teamā€™s cap total but would save New England as much each if they get cut by the deadline, which is why we have Zappe (-1250) and Lowe (-750) as our leading candidates to get cut in 2024.  

Throw in third year wideout Tyquan Thornton (-475), fifth year linebacker Raekwon McMillan (-105) and Smith-Schuster at +150 and you have the full rundown on the Pats that are the most (or least) likely to find themselves on the outside looking in at the teamā€™s 53-man roster later this summer.

As New England looks to move on from last yearā€™s disastrous 4-13 campaign across Massachusetts sports betting, there will be a litany of tough decisions for Mayo and company to make about the teamā€™s roster, with each of the five players listed above having anything but a laid-back summer as they sweat out roster cuts between now and the teamā€™s Sept. 8 Week 1 showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals in South Ohio.  

Also of interest: Patriotsā€™ Toughest Stretch of 2024 NFL Season.

USA Today photo by Mark Konezny.

Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.

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