Getty D'Eriq King
T
he possible second coming of Julian Edelman, won’t be making his debut in a New England Patriots uniform.
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King was one of the first players that the Patriots signed after the 2022 NFL Draft. A quarterback in college, King was willing to play multiple positions in New England.
“I talked to (Patriots director of player personnel) Matt Groh, and he was excited,” King told NESN’s Zack Cox. “… He told me I’ll do a little bit of everything—receiver, quarterback, running back—whatever I can do to stick.
“…I’m definitely motivated, and you have a chip on your shoulder, whether you get drafted or not. I’ve played quarterback my whole life, but I think I can be a pretty good receiver, as well.”
But the Patriots will not be using him at all as he was released on Monday. ESPN Insider Field Yates was the first to report the news.
The Patriots have waived former Miami QB D’Eriq King, who signed with the team as an undrafted free agent.
In a bittersweet fashion, prior to reports of his release, the Patriots tweeted out pictures of King in a Patriots uniform for the first time along with other rookies.
Rookies at work.
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Will There Be More Cuts?
New England still has to make some moves in order to sign all their draft picks. So far the Patriots have signed five of their 10 draft picks from the 2022 draft class.
While Marcus Jones, Kevin Harris, Sam Roberts, Chasen Hines, and Andrew Struber all signed on the dotted line, key draft picks such as first-round pick Cole Strange and speedy wide receiver Tyquan Thornton are still without deals. Jack Jones, Pierre Strong Jr., and Bailey Zappe also remain without their rookie contracts.
According to Miguel Benzan (@patscap on Twitter), the Patriots can only sign two of their three 4th-round picks from 2022.
“They will need to create cap space in order to be able to sign the other 3 picks,” Benzan added.
Benzan also added that prior to the departures of Devin Hafford and King, New England had $510,716 in cap space. The Patriots will either have to cut players or restructure current contracts to increase that number.
A Deep Group of Wide Receivers
Even with King having departed the team, New England has quite a large and deep group of wide receivers.
At the top of the group are DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, and Jakobi Meyers. Parker is the only wide receiver on the Patriots roster to ever eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
Bourne and Meyers led the way for New England in 2021. Meyers led the team in receiving yards with 866 while Bourne led receivers in touchdowns with five and also had 800 receiving yards.
While their status on the team remains up in the air, New England also has N’Keal Harry and Nelson Agholor on the roster. While trade rumors surround the two players, they are still on the Patriots roster and that could be the case once the 2022 regular season arrives. Also with Thornton being drafted in the second round, it’s likely that he makes the final roster.
So Patriots fans won’t get to see King running all over the field and his NFL career is now dependent on another team taking a chance on him.
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Patriots Cut Dual-Threat Undrafted Free Agent