The Patriots signed J.J. Dielman to improve their offensive line depth last week, but they’ll need to turn in a different direction.
The NFL’s daily transaction notice brings word that Dielman has decided to retire rather than continue with a bid to make the team. He has been placed on New England’s reserve/retired list, which leaves the team with an open spot on their 90-man roster.
Dielman was a fifth-round pick of the Bengals in 2017 and has bounced around the league for the last two-plus years without seeing any regular season action.
Dielman is the third offensive lineman to retire while on the Patriots roster this year. Jared Veldheer and Brian Schwenke are the other two and 14 linemen remain on the active roster.
