Bill Belichick explains why the Patriots trim their roster before cutdown day

Bill Belichick explains why the Patriots trim their roster before cutdown day


The Patriots got a head start on trimming their roster to 53 players before Tuesday evening’s deadline, waiving 11 players on Sunday. Those transactions came even though the Patriots were scheduled to have two practices between then and when final cuts are due, meaning the team gave up additional depth for those sessions.

So why did Belichick get an early jump on making cuts? He provided an interesting answer on Monday, explaining that it has to do with the professional treatment of the players who are finding out they’ll no longer have a job.

“There is a number of reasons for that, one of them being just volume,” Belichick said. “We have to make 37 transactions, and in some cases when the decision is clear cut, I think it just helps the player get a little bit of a head start on his future. … They’ve worked hard, they’ve done what we’ve asked them to do, they’ve done their best, maybe there is a spot for them somewhere else. We’re giving them the opportunity to get out there a little bit ahead of the pack and at least now they can start putting some feelers out and their agent can start to work on it. I know that the transaction doesn’t become official until later in the week, but when a player has been released, he has the opportunity to start to look to see if there is going to be a practice squad opportunity or something else somewhere else in the league.

“For the guys that have come in and done all that we’ve asked them to do and worked hard, I hope they get another opportunity somewhere. I hope things work out for them somewhere else. Maybe they’re in a better system, fit or another team has less depth than we do and so forth, and some of those guys are going to end up on other teams. So, it’s partially to maintain a relationship with them and their representatives.”

The other reason? Belichick wants to be able to answer their questions once he informs them of his decision, something that would be too difficult if condensed into one day.

“When you try to do 37 guys in an hour, it can just feel pretty dismissive of what the player’s effort and commitment has been,” Belichick said. “I want to recognize that because some of these guys have worked as hard as they could for the last however many months, in some cases years, and done all they could. … We try to handle it as professionally as we can, let’s put it that way.”