The short and somewhat tumultuous Patriots career of Alfonzo Dennard came to an end today as the team released him. It’s somewhat of a surprise given Dennard had started his fair share of games as an outside corner in 2012 and 2013 and the Pats don’t really have any other proven outside starting corner on the roster, at least that has experience in the system.
Dennard’s first two years were marred with legal trouble but even though those were cleared up this season he ended up buried on the depth chart and unable to transition to the slot, a place he might picked up some more playing time.
It seems impossible to know where the line between performance, attitude and injuries was for Dennard, but some details are now coming to light.
Reportedly Dennard didn’t always have the commitment necessary in Foxboro, so it would seem the writing was on the wall for a while now. With multiple rookie free agents being signed, cutting Dennard not only opened up a roster spot but also freed up nearly $1 million in cap space.
Not much changes as far as the cornerbacks go, it’s going to be an open competition and the best three guys will win the starting roles out of camp. While Dennard had some good man coverage abilities and was a feisty corner, he was undersized and useless in the 2013 AFC Championship when forced to cover Demaryius Thomas.
