Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
Indianapolis Colts
Los Angeles Rams
Washington Commanders
A relatively recent Panthers draftee with connections to ex-head coach Matt Rhule has been let go. The team announced on Monday that defensive tackle Bravvion Roy has been waived. 
Roy was drafted in 2020 as one of several players with a history of playing under Rhule at Baylor. He flashed considerable pass-rushing potential in his final college season in particular, with 5.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss. That production did not translate to the NFL level, however.
The former third-rounder recorded only one sack and three TFLs across 45 games in Carolina, where he primarily played in a rotational capacity. Roy started nine games as a rookie, but only six contests after that, and his snap share in 2021 and ’22 (31% and 34%, respectively) was noticeably lower than his debut campaign. A hamstring injury led to an IR stint last season and limited him to 13 games played.
With Frank Reich having been installed as Rhule’s full-time replacement, it comes as little surprise that a player added in part for his connections to the latter is being let go. Derrick Brown is in place as the anchor of the Panthers’ defensive line, and the team inked Shy Tuttle to a three-year, $19.5MM deal in free agency. That will give Carolina a starting tandem at the DT spot similar to the Brown-Matthew Ioannidis duo which was used last year. The team has several candidates to assume Roy’s second-team snaps.
The 26-year-old will now hit the waiver wire, giving teams the chance to provide him with a fresh start. If he goes unclaimed, he will seek out an opening as training camps continue. With the roster spot opened up by Roy’s departure, fellow D-lineman LaBryan Ray was signed. The latter signed a futures deal with the Patriots in January, but was released soon after and played in the XFL. He will aim to see regular season NFL action for the first time this fall in Carolina.
Many teams started signing players to reserve/futures contracts yesterday, allowing the organization to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts:
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
New England Patriots
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Chicago Bears
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
Washington Commanders
Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Bills, Dolphins, Jets and Patriots moves are noted below.
Here are Wednesday’s AFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
Placed on IR:
Signed to practice squad:
Signed to practice squad:
Signed to practice squad:
Signed to practice squad:
The Patriots cut down their roster to 53 players today. In the process, they let go of a handful of recent draft picks, including a 2022 selection:
The Patriots acknowledged some of their previous draft mistakes today. The team let go of three 2021 draft picks in wide receiver Tre Nixon, linebacker Will Sherman, and linebacker Cameron McGrone, and they even let go of a 2022 draft pick in sixth-round running back Kevin Harris. However, perhaps the biggest move was releasing tight end end Devin Asiasi. After waiving fellow 2020 third-round tight end Dalton Keene earlier this month, Asiasi was let go today. Despite his third-round status, Asiasi only saw time in 10 games for the Patriots in two years. With Asiasi and Keene out of the picture, it was expected that Lil’Jordan Humphrey would make the squad as a hybrid WR/TE. However, for the time being, the Patriots will roll with only two tight ends in Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith.
Terrance Mitchell started 29 games over the past two seasons in stints with the Browns and Texans, and he had a chance to compete for a starting gig in New England. However, despite all the uncertainty surrounding the position, the veteran wasn’t able to make his mark, leading to a surprising release. Justin Bethel is another surprising cut, as the veteran has established himself as a special teams ace in recent years.
The Patriots became the latest team to announce their undrafted free agent class. Here are the eight UDFAs Bill Belichick‘s squad is bringing in:
New England focused on just a few positions with its class, but the team has a more complex role planned for King, who delivered a couple of standout seasons while at Houston and Miami. A dual-threat quarterback who stands just 5-foot-9, King accounted for a whopping 50 touchdowns in 2018 with the Cougars; he threw 36 TD passes (compared to just six INTs) and added 14 on the ground in a 674-yard rushing season.
King, who also caught 58 passes as a Houston underclassman before moving to quarterback full-time, chose the Patriots due to their interest in deploying him in myriad ways. Any Julian Edelman comparisons are obviously unfair, but the Pats’ successful QB-to-WR convert only caught one pass during his time college. King is coming off an injury-truncated season, playing in just three games.
“I talked to [Patriots player personnel director] Matt Groh, and he was excited. I’m thankful for the opportunity. He told me I’ll do a little bit of everything — receiver, quarterback, running back — whatever I can do to stick,” King said, via ProFootballNetwork.com’s Aaron Wilson, who adds the Bills, Cowboys and Seahawks showed interest as well.
Russey, who transferred to Houston last year after five seasons at Louisiana Tech, will receive a nice chunk of his rookie salary guaranteed. The Pats are guaranteeing the UDFA O-lineman $210K, Pro Football Focus’ Doug Kyed tweets. Russey was a rare 60-start college footballer; he lined up at center for the Cougars last season. The other center in this eight-man contingent, Shanahan became a two-year LSU starter after transferring from Harvard. These two snappers join longtime starter David Andrews and veteran backup James Ferentz in New England.
One of George Karlaftis‘ edge-rushing partners at Purdue, Mitchell will receive $75K guaranteed, Kyed adds (on Twitter). Mitchell recorded 4.5 sacks with the Boilermakers last season. Schooler yo-yoed between wide receiver and safety while at Oregon and Texas, while Julien was one of many in the 2022 UDFA class to use his COVID-19 extra year of eligibility. He punted in 54 games at Eastern Michigan and was a recent Canadian Football League draftee. Julien joins Jake Bailey as Patriot punters.