3:11pm: Easley’s knees are in “pretty bad shape,” a source tells Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com adds (via Twitter) that off-field issues factored into the Patriots’ decision to part ways with Easley.
2:57pm: As the Patriots prepare to enter the 2016 draft as the only NFL team without a first-round pick, the Pats have removed their 2014 first-round pick from their roster. According to Tom Curran of CSNNE.com, defensive lineman Dominique Easley has been waived by New England.
Easley, 24, was selected 29th overall in the 2014 draft by the Patriots, despite the fact that he was recovering from a torn ACL at the time. Although he made it back to the field for his rookie season, he was limited to just 11 games, and played in only 11 more in 2015, having been plagued by hip, knee, and ankle issues.
Before he landed on injured reserve in December of 2015, Easley picked up 15 tackles and two sacks in his sophomore NFL season, and received a solid Pro Football Focus grade. Given his decent play when he was healthy, his first-round pedigree, and the fact that he still has guaranteed money remaining on his contract, Easley’s release comes as a bit of a surprise, despite his injury woes.
Teams will have the opportunity to roll the dice on Easley and place a waiver claim on him before he becomes a free agent — a club that claims him off waivers would assume the final two years of his rookie contract. If Easley goes unclaimed, he would count for about $2.9MM against the Patriots’ cap in 2016, which is about $900K more than his cap hit would have been if he had remained on the team’s roster.
A Monday report indicated that Easley had hired agents Drew Rosenhaus and Michael Katz of Rosenhaus Sports for representation, so it’s possible that he was aware of the Patriots’ decision well before today and was preparing for the possibility of hitting the open market.
Easley is the second 2014 first-rounder to be cut by his team this offseason. The other, of course, was former Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I thought belichick is a genius
Yeah he’s a genius not God
Hopefully the Jags take a flier on him. Wouldn’t hurt especially with a need for pass rushers.
The Jags dline is pretty deep I’m not sure he fits
The Patriots are a joke when it comes to drafting. They’ve gotten lucky on a few picks otherwise they’ve been trash
Ya, but there a hell of a good team, so who cares. There not stupid. They know what there doing. When you keep a team together, they win together, if you split teams like most, you lose often.
Trash is an exaggeration but I do believe they are pretty overrated.
Belichick is a coaching genius, but I would rate as him as only average or maybe slightly above average at drafting.
i smell a bit of jealousy here. Belichick hits way more than he misses. Find me one coach who has made perfect draft decisions since 2000…
Definately not belichick obviously
There’s clearly more to this, not just a strange BB move. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him miss significant time due to injury or suspension or something like that, similar to when will hill was released seemingly unexpectedly at first
I hope the Texans can get him off waivers.
Texans dont need another pass rusher