The Patriots Make Their First Big Surprise Veteran Cut of the 2019 Season

And so, what had been a relatively quiet preseason in New England finally gets to Opening Day of Surprise Veteran Roster Cut season. And the ceremonial first pitch turns out to be Mike Pennel. Which is to say, he’s the first surprise veteran to get tossed unless you’re one of those people acting stunned by them releasing Ryan Allen or Maurice Harris. As good as Allen was in the Super Bowl – and he was practically the MVP – nothing says “Only sign a Tenant at Will lease” like your employers moving up in the draft to select your replacement. And even Maurice Harris’ mom would’ve drafted him in her Fantasy league once Josh Gordon and Demaryius Thomas were added to the active roster.

The Surprise Veteran Roster Cut is a proud tradition in New England. A tradition that began with Ben Coates getting an exit interview from HR in 2000, continued with Andy Katzenmoyer being handed an empty box for his stuff the following year, and has been handed down to guys like Pot Roast Knighton getting the “It’s not you, it’s us” a couple of years ago. As these cuts go, Mike Pennel’s is much closer to Knighton’s than, say, the gold standard of Lawyer Milloy in 2003. But it’s a surprise nevertheless.

I loved the addition of Pennel. He’s a big, solid, dependable run-stuffing defensive tackle who didn’t miss a game for the Jets the last couple of years and has 69 career games on his curriculum vitae. He was only guaranteed his $500,000 signing bonus. He seemed like a great fit for a team that looks to be transitioning to a base 3-4 and is looking for a rotation of 2-gapping DTs to plug holes. Go figure.

The way I see it, this is a statement not about Pennel, who’ll probably be plucked off waivers by the time I’m finished writing this. This move speaks Metallica concert-volumes about the state of the Patriots defense right now. The fact that a capable veteran – a known commodity – like Pennel is deemed expendable this far before Cut Down Day shows how confident the coaching staff is when it comes to this unit. Adam Butler and Lawrence Guy might not sell a lot of jerseys, but they’re productive and versatile. Danny Shelton was inconsistent last year before tearing it up in the Super Bowl and looks like he’s keeping it to that level:

And Byron Cowart, whom they took in the 5th round (159th) out of Maryland and was probably THE least talked about of the rookies, has sneaky been the pleasant surprise of camp and the dress rehearsal games.

So Pennel probably shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. But still, I admit I did not see this one coming. And if there’s an even bigger SVRC coming between now and the Week 1 game against Pittsburgh, just bear in mind they are a tradition in New England. They’re proof you’ve got a deep roster. And it seems like they’ve been working out OK for the last 20 years or so. So why stop now?