Despite their heavy rushing corps, the New England Patriots are reportedly interested in adding veteran rusher LeSean McCoy to their fold. McCoy became available after he was released by the Buffalo Bills after four seasons. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, four teams are interested in acquiring the services of McCoy, including the Patriots. Aside from the Patriots, Rapoport said other teams which have expressed “strongest early interest” in McCoy are the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Currently, the Patriots have a loaded backfield with Brandon Bolden, Rex Burkhead, Damien Harris, Sony Michel and James White, but they are expected to at least make call on McCoy.
The Patriots recently trimmed their backfield by cutting rusher Nick Brossette before the Saturday 4 p.m. deadline to finalize their 53-man roster. Last season, McCoy suited up in 14 games, carrying the ball 161 times for 514 yards and three scores and catching 34 passes for 238 yards. In two games last season against the Patriots, McCoy was limited to 22 yards on 18 carries with no touchdown. McCoy, who is entering his 11th season, has 2,346 carries for 10,606 yards and 69 touchdowns in his career with the Eagles and the Bills.
Patriots could sign Thomas anew
Among those cut by the Patriots was veteran wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who put on an impressive performance in their preseason finale against the New York Giants.
Thomas, who has yet to fully recover from a torn Achilles, caught seven passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns in their 31-29 loss to the Giants. With his impressive showing, many expected the Patriots to keep Thomas in the 53-man regular season roster. However, the Patriots had other plans as they cut Thomas and retained Phillip Dorsett, Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon, N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Meyers , Gunner Olszewski and special teamer Matthew Slater as wideouts.
All is not lost for Thomas, per Mike Giardi of NFL Network, as the Patriots might sign Thomas anew. According to Giardi’s source, there is a mutual desire between the Patriots and the veteran wide receiver so a quick return is imminent.
Center David Andrews to miss 2019 season
Veteran starting center David Andrews has confirmed via an Instagram post that he will miss the 2019 season due to blood clots in his lungs.
According to Andrews, he has decided to forego the 2019 season to be able to fully recover from the blood clots in his lungs that sent him to the hospital earlier this week. Andrews committed to do everything he can to fully recover and return to action for the 2020 season. The Patriots already placed Andrews on injured reserve, meaning he could not return at some point in the 2019 season. Before Andrews’ announcement, the Patriots traded for Buffalo Bills center Russell Bodine, who started 74 games since entering the league in 2014. The Patriots may have veteran backup Ted Karras or Bodine as starting center in Week 1.