With yesterday being the big day where NFL teams had to cut down their rosters to 53 players, a ton of moves took place across the league. The AFC East saw the New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets release notable names as part of roster cutdowns.
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots parted ways will fullback Glenn Gronkowski, whose brother is the team's star tight end Rob Gronkowski. He spent parts of last season on the team's practice squad but could not land a spot on the final roster along side his brother.
Geneo Grissom was the Patriots third-round pick in 2015. However, the disappointing defensive lineman has been cut after only recording seven tackles and one sack in two seasons.
Two surprising cuts by the Patriots were undrafted rookie receiver Austin Carr and running DJ Foster, who both performed well in the preseason. Carr had 14 receptions for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Foster had 30 carries for 92 yards, along with 13 catches for 150 yards and three total touchdowns. Both players could end up on the team's practice squad, as the Patriots are deep at running back and receiver on their roster.
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins made a surprising cut yesterday when they released punter, Matt Darr.
Darr had been the team's starting punter for the last two season after he bet out veteran Brandon Fields for the job as an undrafted rookie. This means that undrafted rookie Matt Haack from Arizona State will take over the job. They also released quarterback Brandon Doughty, who the team drafted in the seventh round in 2016 out of Western Kentucky.
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills released veteran wide receiver Rod Streater, who at one point this offseason had a shot at a starting receiving job. However, Streater suffered a toe injury and ended up expendable after the Bills also traded for Kaelin Clay from the Panthers.
They also cut defensive end Ian Seau, the nephew of NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau.
Seau was among the last round of roster cuts a year ago with the Rams and has not suffered the same fate with the Bills.
New York Jets
The New York Jets released long snapper Tanner Purdum who had been with the team for seven seasons, making him the tenured Jets player on their roster. Purdum's time with the team seemed up after the Jets traded backup safety Ronald Martin to the Colts for 23-year-old long snapper Thomas Hennessy.
The team also waived/injured receiver Lucky Whitehead, after he suffered a foot injury about two weeks ago. If no other team claims Whitehead off of waivers he will revert back to the Jets roster on injured reserve.