The New England Patriots open their season one week from Wednesday, with a nationally televised rematch of last season’s Super Bowl.
The Patriots travel to the Pacific Northwest to face the Seattle Seahawks, the team that defeated them 29-13 on Feb. 8, depriving New England of its record seventh Super Bowl championship.
Before the NFL opener, the Patriots continued to fine-tune their roster, adding depth at positions that have been thinned by injury over the offseason. They announced their latest signing decision on Wednesday.
The Patriots signed former Detroit Lions tight end Shane Zylstra to the team’s practice squad on Wednesday, according to ESPN correspondent Mike Reiss, adding a 35-game NFL veteran to a position group thinned out since the spring.
Shane Zylstra’s Path to New England
The move came alongside a corresponding cut. New England waived rookie safety Eric Butler and rookie wide receiver Jimmy Kibble from injured reserve to clear room.
ESPN‘s Reiss and MassLive‘s Mark Daniels were among the first to confirm the signing, with Daniels detailing Zylstra’s 35 games of NFL experience with Detroit.
Zylstra, 29, stands 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds. Born in Spicer, Minnesota, he starred at Minnesota State-Mankato, where he finished his college career as the school’s all-time leader with 227 catches for 4,297 receiving yards and 54 touchdown grabs. He earned first-team All-American honors in 2019 and was the NSIC Offensive Player of the Year in 2017.
The Minnesota Vikings signed Zylstra as an undrafted free agent in 2021, then released him before the season began. Detroit scooped him up the next day, converting him from receiver to tight end and keeping him around for four seasons split between the practice squad and the 53-man roster. He played in 35 games with six starts for the Lions, catching 18 passes for 136 yards and four touchdowns, with a three-touchdown outing against Carolina in 2022 as his career highlight.
Injuries interrupted that Detroit run. Zylstra missed the entire 2023 season after tearing his MCL in training camp, then went down again in Week 2 of 2025 with an ankle injury sustained while blocking on a punt return, landing on injured reserve until December.
Detroit’s run ended when the Buffalo Bills signed Zylstra as an unrestricted free agent on May 12, only to release him Aug. 29 after four preseason catches for 33 yards. New England picked him up four days later. He is the younger brother of former NFL wide receiver Brandon Zylstra.
New England’s Tight End Depth Problem
Julian Hill’s season-ending knee injury during offseason workouts left the tight end position thin behind Hunter Henry, who caught 60 passes for 768 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2025. Coach Mike Vrabel signaled the team would add depth after that injury, according to a report from CBS Sports.
Third-round rookie Eli Raridon sits behind Henry on the depth chart, with undrafted rookie Tanner Arkin and Cameron Latu, claimed off waivers from Philadelphia on Aug. 31, rounding out the 53-man tight end room. C.J. Dippre and Jack Westover were part of the mix earlier in camp but didn’t make the final cut. Hill remains on injured reserve.
Zylstra gives the Patriots a blocking tight end with special-teams experience and a track record of in-season elevations in Detroit, a profile suited to depth rather than a featured role.
Practice-squad players receive three standard game-day elevations per season before a permanent roster decision is required. Zylstra’s path to activation likely runs through an injury elsewhere in the room or a matchup calling for extra bodies at blocking or special teams, the role Detroit used him in for four seasons.
Patriots Announce Decision on Ex-Lions Player One Week Before NFL Opener