The New England Patriots informed rookie wide receiver Kyle Dixon on Saturday that he has been released, according to ESPN Patriots insider Mike Reiss, as the team begins trimming its roster toward Sunday’s 53-man deadline. The move ends a four-month run in Foxborough that began with one of the more unusual undrafted deals of the offseason.
Dixon arrived in April with a contract heavier than his college pedigree suggested, and he leaves with a strong final outing on his résumé. That combination leaves an open question about whether another team steps in before he ever plays a regular-season snap.
The 25-year-old appeared in two of three preseason games, catching 2 passes for 10 yards against Philadelphia before exploding for a team-high 8 catches and 71 yards in the preseason finale at Cleveland. Missed practice time in mid-August, though, likely didn’t help his case against a deeper, more established group.
Dixon grew up in Carlinville, Illinois, where he set school records for receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns in a season while also playing defensive back at Carlinville High School, according to the team’s official biography. He’s the son of Monica and Tim Dixon and has two older brothers, Ethan and Jacob.
Kyle Dixon’s Path to New England
Football wasn’t Dixon’s first sport. He pitched college baseball at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Georgia Gwinnett College before switching to football at NAIA Culver-Stockton College for the 2024 season.
The move paid off fast. Dixon caught 143 passes for 2,394 yards and 24 touchdowns across two seasons, including an 83-catch, 1,282-yard, 12-touchdown campaign in 2025 that made him the first receiver in program history with multiple 1,000-yard seasons. He backed it up at Missouri’s pro day with a 4.51-second 40-yard dash and a 40.5-inch vertical, then caught four passes for 71 yards as the only NAIA player invited to the Hula Bowl all-star showcase, according to a report from WGEM.
New England signed him as an undrafted free agent in late April on a three-year deal that included $252,500 in guarantees, among the largest such packages the franchise has given a UDFA and reportedly the most ever for an NAIA product, according to NESN‘s report on the deal.
Why the Patriots Moved On
The receiver room simply filled up around him. New England added A.J. Brown in a trade and Romeo Doubs in free agency, traded Kayshon Boutte to Houston for safety Jaylen Reed and a draft pick this week, but held on to DeMario Douglas, Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams and Efton Chism III. Dixon was widely viewed as a practice-squad candidate even before final cuts began, according to Pats Pulpit‘s scouting report.
NFL teams must trim rosters from around 90 players to the regular-season limit of 53 by Sunday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline. An undrafted rookie without an established special-teams role rarely survives when the depth chart above him gets that deep.
Because Dixon has no accrued NFL seasons, he’s subject to waivers rather than free agency, meaning any of the other 31 teams can claim him before New England could bring him back.
“A strong likelihood he would be back on the practice squad” awaits if he clears, Reiss reported. His production in Cleveland gives some team a reason to think twice, but most reporting points toward a return to New England, just not on the 53-man roster.
Patriots Release Preseason Standout Receiver Before Cut-Down Deadline