Four Best Patriots Rookie Free Agents Roster Bets

The Patriots officially announced 10 rookie free agent signings and with plenty of roster turnover this year, it’s a good bet one or two could make the roster.

Here’s a quick look back at the undrafteds that made the team over the last decade. As David Andrews confirmed, everyone is on a level playing field once they arrive in Foxboro, whether they were a high-round pick, a high-priced free agent or even a “drafterthought”.

2008: Ryan Wendell, Benjarvus Green-Ellis, Gary Guyton
2009: Brian Hoyer
2010: Dane Fletcher, Sergio Brown, Kyle Love, Ross Ventrone
2011: Jeff Tarpinian
2012: Brandon Bolden, Justin Francis
2013: Joe Vellano, Kenbrell Thompkins
2014: Malcolm Butler
2015: David Andrews, Brandon King
2016: Jonathan Jones
2017: Adam Butler, Harvey Langi, Jacob Hollister, Cole Croston, Keionta Davis (IR)
2018: JC Jackson, Frank Herron (PS)

Who might have the best chance to make this year? Let’s take a look.

A good place to start is guaranteed money, although that doesn’t really make them a roster lock, much less an actual impact NFL player though they’ll get every chance to prove they can be.

Any rookie that makes the 53 man roster this fall will earn a $495k salary. But here is how much guaranteed money the Patriots gave each of their undrafted rookies regardless of whether they make the team. The guys at the top are good bets for the practice squad at minimum: pic.twitter.com/5OYzDGMtvC
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) May 4, 2019

Andrew Beck gets the most guaranteed money since Harvey Langi. Given that all three starting tight ends from 2018 are now gone after Jacob Hollister was shipped to Seattle, this is the easiest position on the roster to make the team.

Langi had unfortunate injuries, including a car accident as a rookie that derailed his career. But he was still more of tweener that didn’t seem to find a position within the defense.

Beck was a captain and “football guy” at Texas, but is not going to be a passing game threat in the NFL. His best bet is to block his ass off and give the Pats a needed force in the run game.

In my draft previews, I saw finding a Patrick Chung-type safety as a critical long-term need and Malik Grant fits that bill. A former walk on, Grant has the necessary in-the-box toughness, but it will be his coverage that makes or breaks his roster chances. Do-it-all box safeties and hard to find and usually need time to develop, as Chung did, so Grant could at least have a good chance at a practice squad spot given how critical then position is within the Patriots defense.

Terez Hall is a hard-hitting Will linebacker but is undersized for the Patriots scheme and will need to play out of his mind on special teams to have any chance at the team.

Wide receiver is another position of need and that’s why Ryan Davis and Jakobi Meyers are the last of the rookie free agents with significant intrigue.

Davis is a potential slot receiver but will face a major step up in offensive scheme coming from Auburn’s limited aerial attack. Meyers is a bigger slot receiver and that could give him a slight advantage over Davis. Both were former quaterbacks which is an advantage coming into the Patriots offense that requires thinking on the fly.

Beck, Grant and the two wide receivers see limited and/or unproven depth charts above them and that gives this foursome the best chance to be the latest on the long list of undrafted players that make the Patriots roster ever season.