Perry: Patriots vets who could feel roster crunch after latest moves

Caught up in all the excitement of the newest Patriots additions, are you? You should be. The team improved this week. 

But what do all these new faces mean for the players already rostered prior to the start of the new league year? Maybe it's best described this way: When one door opens, another closes. And we know Bill Belichick has never been afraid to close a door on a player in order to make an upgrade, even if it means admitting his own mistakes in the draft.

Here are the players who look like they'll be most impacted by Belichick's wheeling and dealing this week.

Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene

Because of its importance in both the run and pass games, and because of how it is used in the college game, tight end represents one of the toughest college-to-pro transitions in the sport. Add in a pandemic and a shortened offseason, and it'd be easy to explain away the lack of production the Patriots received from their third-round rookies last year.

Still, that didn't keep Belichick from hitting the reset button at that spot in free agency.

After the additions of Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, if Asiasi (two catches, 39 yards, one touchdown) or Keene (three catches, 16 yards) are going to make an impact in 2021, it's going to have to be as depth pieces.

The Patriots use reserve tight ends in the kicking game. They use them in specialty packages during short-yardage and goal-line situations. Asiasi and Keene aren't necessarily cut candidates. (Though the Patriots have shown in the past -- Duke Dawson being the most recent example -- that they aren't afraid to part with a young draft pick after just one year.) But the path for the second-year tight ends to contribute is now significantly, if not completely, obstructed.

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Go ahead and add vets Ryan Izzo (13 catches, 199 yards in 2020) and Matt LaCosse (opted out in 2020) to the list of negatively-impacted players after the Henry and Smith signings as well.

Accounting for the top-51 rule, releasing LaCosse would make a minimal impact on the team's cap (just over $400,000). Izzo's release would likely have no impact because of the top-51 rule.

N'Keal Harry

The writing is on the wall for Belichick's first-round pick in 2019. The team has added an explosive down-the-field threat in Nelson Agholor. It has added a possession-receiver type in Kendrick Bourne. It has a big slot in Jakobi Meyers who was exponentially more productive than Harry last season despite being an undrafted rookie in Harry's class.

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The Patriots still could use a true No. 1 in the passing game so that in third-down situations there's a man-to-man beater available as the offense's money option. Maybe that money option will be Henry or Smith.

But at this point it's pretty clear it's not Harry. Moving on so that both sides can start fresh seems to make sense, though a trade involving Harry shouldn't return the Patriots much of anything in terms of value.

Anfernee Jennings  

Jennings, a second-year linebacker out of Alabama, looked like one of the top candidates to take over the workload left behind by starting outside linebacker John Simon, who is now a free agent. The 2020 third-rounder split his time between edge and off-the-ball linebacker duties as a rookie.

But with Matthew Judon in the mix, the Patriots have that strongside linebacker who can set a firm edge and serve a variety of roles. Doesn't mean Jennings' snaps go up in smoke. Just means fewer snaps for the taking than there were a week ago.

Chase Winovich

Winovich's usage was all over the map in 2020. The team needed front-seven help with Dont'a Hightower out and both Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins gone via free agency. As a result, Winovich was thrust into a larger role than the pass-rush specialist position he served in 2019. He played 593 snaps -- up from 293 snaps in 2019 -- but there were weeks where he barely made it onto the field.

Bringing Van Noy back to play opposite Judon, as the Patriots did Wednesday, will mean fewer available opportunities. If Winovich was hoping to be a three-down player in Year 3, that's looking like less of a possibility.

But a more niche role could mean more efficient production for Winovich, who was in on seven sacks in his first season. That's one more than in 2020 despite more playing time last year.

Joejuan Williams

Williams has had a hard time cracking the regular rotation in a deep Patriots secondary the last two years, playing just 172 snaps last season with a season-high 36 of those coming in a meaningless Week 17 matchup with the Jets.

The 2019 second-rounder could continue to have hard time finding the field in 2021 after the addition of Jalen Mills. Part of Williams' appeal in the draft two years ago was his size and perceived versatility. He looked like a matchup weapon for modern-day tight ends -- essentially tall slot receivers -- with enough of a physical style of play that he could survive near the line of scrimmage or in the box.

But since drafting him, all Belichick has done is add three uber-versatile defensive backs in Kyle Dugger, Adrian Phillips and Mills to a do-it-all group.

If one or more of Jason McCourty (free agent), JC Jackson (restricted free agent) or Stephon Gilmore end up moving on this offseason, perhaps Williams ends up manning a role on the outside. But he has just 144 snaps outside over two seasons, per Pro Football Focus, and he has yet to establish himself as a rotational player there.

Ja'Whaun Bentley

With Hightower back, Van Noy and Judon in every-down roles on the edges, and with second-year linebacker Josh Uche impressing the Patriots in 2020, it feels like Bentley could be one of the odd men out of the overall equation.

A captain in his third season last year, Bentley had an important role in trying to play traffic cop at the second level. But in a league where base personnel is seldom used, and on a team where box safeties like Dugger and Phillips will see plenty of time at the linebacker level, the added bodies in the inside and outside linebacker rooms should mean less action for Bentley, who played over 600 snaps last season.

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If the Patriots want to use two linebackers off the line, the rangier Uche -- an impressive athlete at 6-foot-1 and about 250 pounds -- seems best suited to play alongside the bigger and more powerful Hightower.

"He’s definitely going to help us," Belichick said of Uche late last season. "He’s a good football player. We’ll be able to define his role and his situation next year.”

Byron Cowart

Like Bentley, Cowart doesn't fall into the category of being a high-end pick who could see his playing time shrink due to this week's activity. Like Bentley, he was a fifth-rounder. But the 2019 Day 3 pick played 419 snaps and started a whopping 14 games last season as Lawrence Guy's partner in crime up front.

Adding Henry Anderson and Davon Godchaux very well could sop up some Cowart's playing-time figures. The Patriots still need depth up front particularly if they lose both Adam Butler (signed with the Dolphins) and Guy to free agency. So Cowart's role shouldn't disappear. It just might not be what it was in 2020.