Getty Justin Bethel.
The New England Patriots were active in the personnel department on Tuesday, making a move for receiver Mohamed Sanu in the morning before a second one later in the day.
The second move addressed the Patriots’ special teams unit by bringing in free agent Justin Bethel. The three-time Pro Bowler was released by the Baltimore Ravens on Monday in a move designed for the team to retain its fourth-round draft pick.
Because Tennessee released former Ravens defensive end Brent Urban, it meant Baltimore had to release Bethel in order to retain the conditional fourth-round pick that Baltimore got for him. So, they sent Bethel packing and the Patriots came courting.
Bethel is 29-years-old, having played for the Arizona, Atlanta, and Baltimore in his career so far. This season, Bethel led all Ravens players with 81 percent of snaps on special teams and recorded six tackles along with a fumble recovery.
The Patriots have been strong on special teams this season and recently resigned Jordan Richards for depth at defensive back and on punt coverage. New England now gets a bonafide Pro Bowl special teamer instead.
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Corresponding Move
Following a trade for Mohamed Sanu, the Patriots now have 55 players on the active roster including Bethel. That means New England is going to have to make a pair of corresponding moves to fit Bethel and Sanu.
The first came shortly after with the release of fellow special teamer Jordan Richards, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Richards was never inactive in his brief return to New England, but the Patriots got a more experienced player in Bethel.
One of the possible moves New England may make is to place either Rex Burkhead or Matt LaCosse on what would be season-ending injured reserve. Burkhead, who has been injured in each of his three years with the Patriots, has missed the last three games with a foot injury, though he has been limited in practice.
As for LaCosse, this will mark the second time he has been sidelined due to injury this season following an ankle ailment in the preseason that forced him to miss two games. Now dealing with a knee injury that is supposed to keep him out for three weeks, New England might just opt to end his season.
On defense, Michael Bennett will be traded. Both are equally possible, especially the latter since Bennett is at odds with New England.
Salary Issues?
New England didn’t have enough cap room to sign Sanu meaning a trade is likely in the offing. But now, even adding Bethel on a veteran minimum means New England will have to get creative in clearing up some extra space.
In doing so, the Patriots were able to increase the amount of cap space they had by nearly $500,000 up to $2.9 million. But New England still needs a little more to incur Sanu’s $3.1 million cap hit.
My new Patriots salary cap space number after the two injury grievances and the Jordan Richards BUT NOT accounting for the still unofficial Mohamed Sanu trade and the unofficial Justin Bethel signing is $2,913,798.
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