New England Patriots Cut Candidates After Minicamp Ft. Bailey Zappe, Mitchell Wilcox & Kevin Harris

[Music] it's make a break time here on Patriots today by Chad sports that's right I'm going breaking down some cut candidates that I think won't be on the Patriots roster heading into training camp towards the end of July this comes right after mandatory mini camp because I saw some players who seem to look pretty good in OTAs saw some growth saw some technical things that I could definitely live with but then mini camp rolls around and they pretty much turn invisible so I want to talk about some cut candidates that I think would fit the Patriots not only cap savings but also just moving forward with the depth chart into the regular season but before we get into those five cut candidates I do want to set a record here on Patriot today by Chad Sports as you guys know I took this channel over about a month ago now I handled the Celtics today channel here and now the Patriots so I am Boston Barefoot if you will can we get 20 new subscribers on this Patriots video of alone if you guys like what you see if you're excited for the if you're excited for the NFL regular season go on ahead hit that sub button for me and I have analytics I can see who's subscribing and who's not so I want to see if we can get 20 new subscribers here on this video alone all right let's go ahead and break down our five cut candidates I got to start off here with bayy zappy I know this one's not really going to break anybody's walls here but zappy I think has had enough time to show the Patriots what he can do do and from what I've seen in OTAs and mini camp I just don't think there's anything more that bayy zappy can provide for the New England Patriots but what we do know is that gerod Mayo wants to keep four quarterbacks for the rest of the offseason into training camp and he does believe there is going to be enough reps to go around to make sure that brassette may zappy and Milton get enough to Showcase their talent but like I said we know zappy came in for M Jones who just couldn't get the job done but bayy zappy couldn't really get the job done either so yes you want to keep four quarterbacks round which I do agree with because I do think this is going to help really narrow down who that quarterback three is going to be pretty much you're either going to cut one of these quarterbacks and then put number three on the practice squad which I do think is going to be Milton I think he has a lot more to offer right now than bayy zappy does other than experience but that'll come with time obviously because bayy zappy he dropped pretty quick from qb2 to qb3 which was kind of expected once you took a top three pick in the NFL draft like Drake may but now that he's competing with Milton for qb3 it just makes me wonder is there anything else he has up his sleeve that the Patriots might not have seen that can maybe extend him over this Joe Milton guy because from my perspective I feel like I've seen everything from bayy zappy and I just don't think he is the guy to get the job done would he be a good practice squad quarterback absolutely because there is a chance and we've seen it before in other NFL teams that qb1 goes down qb2 goes down and yes bayy zappy would be the next man up and he would be a good one but I think Joe Milton if you took him in the draft you obviously saw something in him he's got a cannon for an arm he's really attaching well with these rookies and these veterans I think Joe Milton could beat out bayy zappy for qb3 my next cut candidate unfortunately is going to be taquon Thorton I think there are several wide receivers now the Patriots do not want to end up where they were last year with pretty much lone receiver in pop Douglas so tawon Thorton I just don't think is pushing the needle for himself in mini camp and OTAs this off season he struggled in mini camp day one you saw some bad routes you saw some drops he just wasn't really connecting with Drake May Jobe pret the way that a wide receiver should if he's trying to make the roster and then he didn't attend day three of mini camp so you kind of cut yourself short there cuz if you're not going to pop off in day one and don't show up for day three then day one's all they have to evaluate you but thankfully they have seen thoron already before in the Patriots uniform here's what he did last year 13 receptions 23 targets 901 yards and zero touchdowns only nine games but you see what I mean not really pushing the needle here for the Patriots last season and now not really sticking out his neck so far in the off season Evan Lazar also pointed this out here on June 6 a while ago saying the 12 wide receivers currently on the Patriots 90 man roster you got Juju Smith Shuster who could possibly also be a cut candidate Kendrick Bourne de Mario Douglas Jaylen pul you got Jayvon Baker KJ Osborne Jaylen rer taquon Thorton kaan booty Kanan Baker David Wallace and Jay Jackson these are so many wide receivers now that if that little name in there tawon thoron is not going to somehow separate himself from the other 11 it's going to end in a cut it has to because you can't have 12 wide receivers on your 53 man rer what do you guys think do you think tawon Thorton will be able to beat out a couple of these wide receivers to make wide receiver five possibly wide receiver six but I really think that we're looking at the top five here that's actually going to be pretty influential for the New England Patriots coming up type why for yes type in for no and also I have a question for you guys do you want live watch parties this season for your New England Patriots well my bosses and I haven't talked about it yet what our Sundays are going to look like towards the regular season but uh if we get enough subscribers on this video I could maybe say you know hey looks like some Patriots fans out there want to go live with us on Sunday cuz I've been told that our watch parties on Celtics today are the second best place to watch those ball games behind TD Garden so maybe the bosses will let me go live a little bit on Sunday all you guys got to do to help me out is subscribe coming in at number three it's going to be Tristan Hill who's going to be in my next cut candidate of course is a defensive tackle this one's a little bit tough because he did get injured in mini camp this is what Zack Cox had to say during day three of mandatory mini camp he said defensive tackle Tristan Hill is getting checked out by head trainer Jim whan which looks something like his hand or wrist related there was a report out there that maybe maybe jacobe brassette had stepped on his hand while he was down on the ground but Tristan Hill was kind of already on the bubble and then once you get injured in mini camp it just doesn't make a good resource for you because if you're fighting for a spot that injury is not going to help because they're going to look at you as one thing injured and that's where it's going to get a lot tougher for somebody like Tristan Hill who already is kind of on the brink of not making this depth chart here because you can see you got Keon white you got Devon gotcha you got Christian Bourne uh excuse me but barmore and then you already got all of these twos and threes sitting behind your starting nose tackle and your defensive end and your defensive tackle then you see at the very bottom there where it says also Tristan Hill I think he was kind of already in the chopping block then he gets injured in mini camp I would highly doubt we see Hill going into training camp I this is going to be a little bit controversial I understand Mitchell Wilcox we haven't been able to see Mitchell Wilcox just yet in a New England Patriots uniform of course we picked him up in free agency about a month ago from the Cincinnati Bengals but here's why I think Willcox will not be on this roster moving forward is because I think Jim Bell is going to beat out Willcox yes I know he was drafted round six recently in the 2024 NFL draft but the tight ends is going to be a pretty competitive storyline that a lot of people are going to let go under the radar here because they're looking for tight end number three and the reason why I do think that Bell would kind of outplay Willcox here is because this number right here you cut Willcox you save yourself a million dollars that's a little bit different there from that rookie contract that you did just give with Jem Bell but it's kind of interesting because this the uh Patriots don't really need to focus on cap space right now they've got more than enough but I also do think from what I've seen from Bell he's kind of given me that he's a little bit younger he's got a little bit more to offer and when you look at this tight end depth chart here the only thing that I do notice in difference between Willcox and Bell is that Willcox is about 6'4 247 pounds you're going to get more of a blocker out of somebody like Willcox where bell is 2 in shorter 6'2 but weighs about the same 200 and 41 lbs but Bell is going to be more of a dump off kind of tight end can maybe push to get you that first down when you need it so it's going to be a battle all off season long and when you look at what will Cox did in for the Bengals last season this is the stat that I love the most 17 games played this man played a full season but he wasn't really Joe burrow or their backups backups Target quite fairly that often you got 12 targets nine receptions 56 six yards with zero touchdowns obviously the tight end was not utilized here which making me think you know he's not a tier one tight end here so why not allow a rookie to kind of showcase what he has moving into training camp and still fight for that tight end number three spot but don't be surprised if you do actually see Mitchell Willcox coming in here and taking that tight end three spot as well because obviously he's got the experience he's got a little bit more height to him as well and depends on what you're looking at so if you guys want will Cox type MW if you want Bell type JB my last cut candidate heading in a training camp towards the end of July after mini camp is going to be Kevin Harris the running back the running back situation has been pretty interesting here because you've got somebody like Hasty that's coming in and he's really making a splash here with the new running back coach you also picked up Antonio Gibson from the Washington commanders which does give you a little bit more depth there behind her Andre Stevenson but Taylor Embry of course the new running back coach here for the Patriots likes the Third third down type of running backs he wants that player that is going to transition from third down to first down which is exactly what raand Dre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson are then when you go into that depth chart maybe not so much when it comes to Kevin Harris not only does he like third down running backs but he likes running backs that can do it all he likes the jet sweeps the real the wheel routes those kind of running backs that can immediately use their legs and turn it into their hands and pick up that first down if they have to catch the ball that doesn't scream Kevin Harris to me it just doesn't and when Embry had to say what Kevin Harris has done so far in this off season it's not bad and that's the good news here he's not necessarily a loser on my winner or loser chart here because he noticed he's gotten sharper in the past game so he's still fighting for a spot there to make it in with those running back core but it does sound like that Taylor Embry kind of likes more of hasty because you can see more of jichael has a little bit better hands here than Kevin Harris does you know R Andre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson are already those third down backs that he's going to have at 1 and two so now where that number three is going to come in that's where I don't know if Kevin Harris is going to be the guy but with that being said I gave you my five cut candidates after mandatory mini camp name your Patriots cut candidates after mandatory mini camp and as always if you guys have not already hit that sub button for me like I said if you want to go live later this fall I got to let my bosses know and that's how you can do it by hitting that sub button for me right now [Music]