The New England Patriots have had quite the offseason; an excellent draft (by the media’s accounts, at least), a free agency period that yielded multiple new starters on both sides of the ball, and a head coach in Mike Vrabel who is still regarded as one of the league’s finest.
But good news for some can be bad news for others, as new additions to the team could spell an end of the road for certain veterans on the team.
Specifically, according to Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder, former first round pick and offensive lineman, Cole Strange, who was controversially selected with the 29th overall selection back in 2022.
Cole Strange Could Be On The Cutting Block In Training Camp
The Patriots declined the fifth year option on Strange last month, making him a free agent at the end of the season, and now it seems that there is a possibility that they could part ways with him before that, per Holder.
“While Mike Vrabel said the 26-year-old was impressive at center on the small sample size last year,” Holder writes, “the new Pats head coach also said he will be competing with veteran free-agent signing Garrett Bradbury for the job this summer (h/t Taylor Kyles of CLNS Media).”
“Even if Strange sticks at guard, he will have to fend off a couple of other offseason additions, free-agent pickup Wes Schweitzer and third-round pick Jared Wilson, in addition to Layden Robinson. That led NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry to list the former Moc as a potential surprise cut, and it’s hard to argue with the logic. “
Strange Has Not Quite Played At The Level Expected Of A 1st Round Pick
Holder also notes that despite Strange having been the starter for the past three years, he has not always lived up to his billing – leading him to believe that Strange has become somewhat of a “draft flop”.
“The Chattanooga product started every game at left guard as a rookie, but he posted an ugly 48.3 run-blocking grade and gave up five sacks, per PFF.
The following year, he returned to the starting lineup and bumped the run-blocking mark up to 66.2 while decreasing the sacks allowed to three, but he only played in 10 games due to a torn patellar tendon.
The injury lingered into last season, where Strange only saw offensive snaps in two games and at a new position: center.”
Garrett Bradbury is by no means a world-beater, having had a few very up-and-down years in Minnesota prior to landing in New England. But he does represent a challenge more significant than in any other year, where he was the presumed starter at guard, then subsequently at center in year 3.
With his contract up next March, it would probably take a substantial uptick in form for the Patriots to want to re-sign the Tennessee native, and as of now his trade value is probably closer to zero than it is any vaguely significant draft pick.
That is not to say he is a certainty to not be on the Pats in 2025 come the regular season, but there is a good chance it would be the shock that some may think it would be.
