Patriots’ 2022 UDFA class keeps New England’s crazy streak alive originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The New England Patriots don’t always nail their drafts. In fact, Bill Belichick and Co. have had a pretty spotty track record in recent years.
But after the seventh round ends, that’s typically when the Patriots get to work.
The Patriots are among the NFL’s most active teams in the undrafted free agent market, taking flyers on players who may have slipped through the cracks on draft weekends. How active, you ask?
Who are the Patriots’ top practice squad candidates after roster cuts?
With undrafted free agents DeMarcus Mitchell and Brenden Schooler surviving Tuesday’s cutdown day, New England has had at least one undrafted free agent make its 53-man roster in 19 consecutive seasons dating all the way back to 2004.
Not all of those UDFAs pan out, but there are plenty of success stories as well, from Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler to Pro Bowler J.C. Jackson to current starting cornerback Jonathan Jones. Here’s a rundown of every undrafted free agent who has made New England’s initial 53-man roster over the last 19 years.
2004: CB Randall Gay
After a strong collegiate career at LSU, Gay went undrafted in the 2004 NFL Draft. The Patriots scooped him up and he immediately had an impact on the team’s secondary, emerging as a starter while recording 34 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 6 passes defensed for the squad.
Gay led the team in tackles during their Super Bowl 39 victory with 11. He played four seasons with the Patriots as a nickelback and was solid, though he missed 24 games combined in 2005 and 2006 due to injury.
2005: DE Mike Wright
Wright served mostly as a rotational player in the early stages of his career and started seven games in his first four seasons. In 2009, Wright emerged as a bigger contributor and put forth back-to-back five-plus sack seasons as a part-time starter on the defensive line. He spent his whole seven-year career with the Patriots, recording 133 tackles and 15 sacks.
2006: OLB Pierre Woods
Woods played for four seasons with the Patriots and mostly served as a special teams ace. He tied for third in the NFL with 22 special teams tackles in 2017 and finished his Patriots career with 108 total tackles.
2007: QB Matt Gutierrez, LB David Herron
Gutierrez spent two years with the Patriots’ organization, one as the team’s third-string quarterback behind Tom Brady and Matt Cassel and one as the primary backup after Brady suffered a torn ACL. He completed the only pass of his Patriots career for 15 yards during his rookie year against the Jets.
Herron never played a down for the Patriots but did survive the cut to 53 in ’07 and spent four years in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Diego Chargers.
2008: LB Gary Guyton
Guyton went undrafted out of Georgia Tech but emerged as a quality player for the Patriots. In his second season in New England, he started all 16 games for the team after Tedy Bruschi’s retirement and logged 85 tackles and 1.5 sacks. He posted a career-best 3.0 sacks the next year to go along with two picks and 65 tackles. He played for the Patriots from 2008-2011 before fizzling out with four other organizations in the next couple of seasons.
2009: QB Brian Hoyer, S Bret Lockett
Hoyer emerged as the Patriots’ top backup quarterback during his rookie preseason, beating out former third-round pick Kevin O’Connell, veteran Kevin Walter, and Matt Gutierrez for the job. He spent three years with the Patriots before bouncing around the league as a spot starter, logging a 16-21 record with 48 passing touchdowns and 30 interceptions. He returned to the Patriots as a backup quarterback as part of the Jimmy Garoppolo trade in 2017.
Lockett made the Patriots squad as a rookie but struggled to stay healthy, only appearing in 10 games during his NFL career.
2010: DT Kyle Love, LB Dane Fletcher, TE Steve Maneri
Love, a big-bodied defensive tackle, spent his first three seasons with the Patriots and was a solid starter during his second and third years. He recorded 65 tackles and 5.5 sacks during his stint with the team.
Fletcher was a great reserve linebacker for the Patriots, contributing as a backup, spot starter, and special teams option. His career was cut short due to a handful of injuries including a torn ACL that ended his 2015 season with the Patriots.
Maneri spent time with the Patriots during his first season but didn’t play a down for them. He would return to the team in 2014 after stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears, but he never logged a catch for the Patriots.
2011: LS Danny Aiken
Aiken spent four years with the Patriots and snapped for them in all but one game from 2011-2014. He was replaced by Joe Cardona during the 2015 NFL Draft.
2012: RB Brandon Bolden, DE Justin Francis, DT Marcus Forston
Bolden quickly emerged as a special teams contributor for the Patriots while averaging 4.2 yards per carry and 7.9 yards per reception during his six years with the team. He had a brief, one-year stop in Miami but returned to the team during the 2019 offseason. Bolden signed with Josh McDaniels’ Las Vegas Raiders this offseason.
Francis and Forston only had brief stays with the Patriots. Francis spent the 2012 season with the team playing in 10 games and logging 3.0 sacks. Forston had a longer tenure (two years) but only played in four games and made three tackles for the team.
2013: OL Josh Kline, OL Chris Barker, WR Kenbrell Thompkins, TE Zach Sudfeld, DL Joe Vellano
This was the Patriots’ largest class of undrafted free agents in the past 15 years, as they signed five players. Josh Kline was a three-year starter for the Patriots at guard.
Elsewhere on the offensive line, Barker spent three years with the Patriots as a backup offensive lineman.
Both Thompkins and Sudfeld had great performances in their initial preseasons, and Thompkins’ carried over into his rookie year when he logged 32 catches for 466 yards and four touchdowns. Meanwhile, Sudfeld was dubbed “Baby Gronk” as a rookie but had trouble living up to the expectations. He only spent three games with the Patriots before being waived by the team.
Finally, Vellano started for half of his rookie campaign and logged three sacks in two seasons with the Patriots. The former Maryland product did log 59 tackles for the team as a rookie, a very good number for a defensive lineman.
2014: CB Malcolm Butler
Butler is one of the best undrafted free agent on this lists. He first made waves with his game-clinching interception of Russell Wilson in Super Bowl XLIX in which he jumped Ricardo Lockette’s slant route at the goal line. From there, he developed into the Patriots’ top cornerback. Over the next three years, Butler started 47 games, intercepted eight passes, created four fumbles, broke up 44 passes, and logged 159 tackles.
His final moment with the Patriots — playing just one snap in the team’s Super Bowl LII loss to the Philadelphia Eagles — was certainly confounding, but he continued to be a strong NFL cornerback with the Tennessee Titans from 2018 to 2020. Butler briefly returned to New England in the summer of 2022 but Mac Jones’ No. 1 target in Year 3, snagging a team-high 83 receptions for 866 yards.
Olszewski, who went undrafted out of Division II Bemidji State and got a call from the Patriots for a workout while he was digging a ditch, carved out a role as New England’s punt returner in 2019, returning 20 kicks for 179 yards. One year later, he was named First Team All-Pro as a punt returner, leading the league in average yards per return with 17.3. Olszewski had another solid year returning punts and kicks for New England in 2021 but signed a two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers in March.
The Patriots signed the German-born Johnson via the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, and he carved out a role at fullback following the retirement of James Develin from 2019 to 2021. Johnson joined McDaniels’ Raiders this offseason after the Patriots moved away from the fullback position.
2020: RB JJ Taylor
Taylor played in six games as a rookie in 2020, carrying the ball 23 times for 110 yards. He was less effective in Year 2, however, appearing in five games and averaging just 1.9 yards per carry (19 rushes for 37 yards). The Patriots released Taylor on Tuesday, although he could land on the practice squad.
2021: K Quinn Nordin
The Patriots barely kept their streak alive last season by putting Nordin on the 53-man roster. The Michigan product was placed on injured reserve in mid-September, as Nick Folk won the starting kicker job and made 36 of 39 field goals in 2021. New England waived Nordin with a non-football injury designation in June.
2022: DL DeMarcus Mitchell and DB Brendan Schooler
The streak remains alive with Mitchell and Schooler both making the 53-man roster. Mitchell projects to be a core special teamer as he saw lots of work in the kicking game this summer. The former Purdue linebacker and defensive end’s strip sack late in the second preseason game against the Panthers resulted in a defensive touchdown in a 20-10 win.
Schooler could make a real impact on special teams. His amazing football journey continues after attending four California high schools in four years and three college football programs. He made his presence felt in each preseason game and may have carved out a solid role on the Patriots going forward.
