FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced today a series of roster moves to reach the mandatory 53-man roster limit. The Patriots released 19 players, placed two players on injured reserve, placed two players on the Physically Unable to Perform List and made one trade.
RESERVE LISTS
The Patriots placed DB Cody Davis and DL Trey Flowers on the Physically Unable to Perform List and CB Isaiah Bolden and OL Conor McDermott on injured reserve.
TRADE
The Patriots traded K Nick Folk to the Tennessee Titans. Terms of the trade were not announced. Folk, 38, is a veteran of 15 NFL seasons with the Dallas (2007-09), the New York Jets (2010-16), Tampa Bay (2017) and New England (2019-22). The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder originally entered the NFL as a sixth-round draft pick (178th overall) by the Dallas Cowboys out of Arizona in the 2007 NFL Draft. He has played in 211 regular season games and converted 353-of-426 field-goal attempts and 458-of-473 extra point attempts for 1,517 career points. He has also appeared in six postseason contests and made 6-of-7 field-goal attempts and all 13 extra-point tries. Folk earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie in 2007 and was selected to the Pro Football Writer's All-Rookie team that season. Last season, Folk kicked in all 17 regular season games for the Patriots and made a 32 field goals and 32 extra points for 128 total points.
RELEASED PLAYERS
The Patriots released the following players: S Joshuah Bledsoe, QB Malik Cunningham, OL James Ferentz, TE Anthony Firkser, LB Joe Giles-Harris, RB Kevin Harris, OL Chasen Hines, RB Ty Montgomery II, LB Calvin Munson, OL Bill Murray, LB Ronnie Perkins, DL Jeremiah Pharms Jr., WR Thyrick Pitts, OL Kody Russey, TE Matt Sokol, OL Andrew Stueber, RB J.J. Taylor, WR Raleigh Webb, QB Bailey Zappe.
Bledsoe, 25, originally was drafted by New England in the sixth-round (188th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft. The 5-foot-11, 207-pounder, spent the 2021 season on the Reserve NFI List. Last season, he played in three games, seeing action on defense and special teams.
Cunningham, 24, was signed by New England as a rookie free agent out of Louisville on May 12, 2023. The 6-foot-1, 198-pounder, spent five seasons at Louisville and finished his career ranked fourth with 9,664 passing yards and fifth with 70 touchdowns in 56 games with 47 starts. He closed his career third in rushing yards with 3,184 yards and tied a school record with 50 rushing touchdowns.
Ferentz, 34, has accrued eight seasons of NFL experience with Houston (2014), Denver (2015-16) and New England (2017-22). The 6-foot-2, 290-pounder has played in 60 regular season games with nine starts and two postseason games as a reserve during his career. Ferentz originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Houston out of Iowa on May 16, 2014. Following his rookie season on the Texans practice squad and two years with the Broncos, Ferentz originally signed with New England on May 18, 2017. Last season, Ferentz played in 12 games with three starts at center.
Firkser, 28, a veteran of five NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans (2018-21) and the Atlanta Falcons (2022), was signed by New England as an unrestricted free agent from Atlanta on May 25, 2023. The 6-foot-2, 241-pounder originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the New York Jets out of Harvard on May 5, 2017 but was released prior to the start of the regular season and spent most of the year on the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad. After being released by Kansas City in the spring of 2018, Firkser was signed by Tennessee. After four seasons with the Titans, he signed with Atlanta as an unrestricted free agent on April 12, 2022. Overall Firkser has played in 69 regular season games with four starts and has 115 receptions for 1,207 yards with five touchdowns. In addition, he has played in five postseason games and has 5 receptions for 89 yards and two touchdowns.
Giles-Harris, 26, was signed by New England on Aug. 9, 2023. The 6-foot-2, 234-pounder, has spent time with Jacksonville (2019-20) and Buffalo (2021-22) on the practice squad and active roster. He originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Jacksonville out of Duke on April 28, 2019. After two seasons rotating between the 53-man roster and the practice squad with Jacksonville, Giles-Harris was signed by Buffalo on Aug. 31, 2021 after being released by Jacksonville on May 16, 2021. He has played in 17 regular season games with three starts and has 18 total tackles and one sack.
Harris, 22, was drafted by New England in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft (183rd overall) out of South Carolina. The 5-foot-10, 225-pounder, began the season on the practice squad before being signed to the 53-man roster on Oct. 13. He played in five games with one start last year and recorded 18 carries for 52 yards with one touchdown.
Hines, 23, originally was drafted by New England in the sixth round (210th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Louisiana State. The 6-foot-3, 320-pounder, was inactive for the first two games last season, dressed but did not play in five games and then finished the year on injured reserve.
Montgomery II, 30, was signed by New England as an unrestricted free agent from New Orleans on March 19, 2022. The 6-foot, 220-pounder is a veteran of eight NFL seasons with Green Bay (2015-18), Baltimore (2018), the New York Jets (2019), New Orleans Saints (2020-21) and New England (2022). He originally entered the NFL as a third-round draft pick (94th overall) of Green Bay out of Stanford in the 2015 NFL Draft. He was traded by Green Bay to Baltimore on Oct. 30, 2018 in exchange for a 2020 seventh-round draft pick. Montgomery signed with the New York Jets as an unrestricted free agent in 2019 and then with New Orleans in 2020. He has played in 79 games with 20 starts and has 142 receptions for 1,119 yards with four touchdowns, 260 rushing attempts for 1,178 yards with seven touchdown and returned 57 kicks for 1,274 yards.
Last season, Montgomery was limited to just one game for New England before finishing the year on injured reserve. He made his Patriots debut in the season opener vs. Miami (9/11) and recorded 3 receptions for 15 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter of the game.
Munson, 28, has had three different stints with New England, spending time on the practice squad in 2018 and 2019, the 53-man roster in 2021 and the practice squad in 2022. The 6-foot-1, 240-pounder originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent in 2017 with the New York Giants out of San Diego State. He played in 14 games with five starts as a rookie with the Giants and finished with 55 tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble. He began the 2018 season on the Giants practice squad before being signed to the New England practice squad. Munson spent the majority of the 2019 season on the New England practice squad before being signed to Miami's 53-man roster on Dec. 17. After playing in all 16 games for the Dolphins in 2020, he began the 2021 season on the team's practice squad before being signed to the New England 53-man roster on Oct. 27. Munson was claimed by Miami after being released by New England on Dec. 15. He was placed on injured reserve in August last summer and then released by Miami on Oct. 10, before being signed by New England to the practice squad on Oct. 12. Overall, he has played in 43 games with seven starts and accumulated 45 total tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble.
Murray, 26, originally joined New England as a rookie free agent out of William & Mary in 2020 and has spent the last three seasons on the practice squad. The 6-foot-4, 307-pounder moved to the offensive line from the defensive line in the 2022 preseason. He was elevated from the practice squad for three games last season, seeing his first and only NFL action for an extra point play vs. Buffalo on Dec. 1, 2022.
Perkins, 23, originally joined New England as a third-round draft pick (96th overall) out of Oklahoma in the 2021 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-3, 250-pounder, was inactive for 13 games as a rookie in 2021 before finishing the year on injured reserve and then spent the entire 2022 campaign on injured reserve.
Pharms Jr., 26, was originally signed by New England on July 19, 2022 and spent the entire 2023 season on the practice squad. The 6-foot-3, 300-pounder was drafted by the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL out of Friends University where he finished the season with 32 tackles and two sacks in 10 games.
Pitts, 24, was originally signed by Chicago as a rookie free agent from Delaware on May 5, 2023. The 6-foot-1, 201-pounder, was released by Chicago on July 31, 2023 and claimed by New England on Aug. 1, 2023. He played in 48 games during his college career and finished with 172 receptions for 2,429 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Russey, 25, was originally signed by New England as a rookie free agent out of Houston on May 9, 2022. The 6-foot-2, 295-pounder began the season on the practice squad before being signed to the 53-man roster on Nov. 18. He dressed but did not play in 10 games.
Sokol, 27, was claimed off waivers and awarded to New England from Detroit on May 11, 2022. The 6-foot-5, 258-pounder originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Los Angeles Chargers out of Michigan State in 2019. He has spent time in training camp and on the practice squad of the Chargers, Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2020, he was elevated by the Chargers to the 53-man roster for two games. Sokol spent the 2023 season on the New England practice squad and played in three games after being elevated to the active roster.
Stueber, 24, was originally drafted by New England in the seventh-round (245th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Michigan. The 6-foot-6, 318-pounder, was placed on the NFI List on Aug 23, where he remained for his rookie season.
Taylor, 25, was originally signed by New England as a rookie free agent out of Arizona in 2020. The 5-foot-6, 190-pounder, has played in 12 games over the last three seasons with 52 rushing attempts for 156 yards and two touchdowns and six receptions for 20 yards. He has also returned five kicks for 112 yards and one punt for 11 yards.
Webb, 25, was signed by New England to the 53-man roster from the Baltimore practice squad on Oct. 19, 2022. The 6-foot-2, 212-pounder, was originally signed by Baltimore on May 6, 2022 as a rookie free agent from The Citadel. He began his rookie season on the practice squad but was elevated to the active roster for two games. Last season with the Patriots, Webb played in 10 games and finished with two special teams tackles.
Zappe, 24, was drafted by New England in the fourth-round draft (137th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Western Kentucky. The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder, played in four games with two starts as a rookie and completed 65-of-92 passes for 781 yards with five touchdowns and three touchdowns.
