Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
The Patriots made their final cuts today to get down to the mandatory 53-man roster limit.
And while there weren't many shockers as far as cuts -- not like Arizona releasing quarterback Matt Leinart -- the biggest name to get his walking papers was Derrick Burgess.
The outside linebacker, who was clearly a major bust last season and apparently considered retiring in the offseason, isn't going to be a big loss anyway.
Burgess was brought here to rush the quarterback, but his five sacks last year just didn't and aren't going to cut it. Burgess became a liability anyway, since teams this preseason continually ran to his side and he couldn't do a darn thing about it. Burgess couldn't stop the run and didn't seem to want to for that matter. I can see if he was so outstanding at sacking the QB that holding the edge on running plays wasn't a top priority, but Burgess proved he couldn't do either.
In the end, the Patriots coaching staff knew it was time to cut bait. It really says something about the player when one of the Pats' weaknesses is getting pressure on the QB, and a guy they cut has been known as a edge rusher his whole career.
Well, maybe now you can officially retire Burgess.
The other decent name to be cut by the Pats was Sam Aiken, the Patriots' special teams captain. Granted, Aiken has been a special teams star, but he simply doesn't offer enough (face it, he's not a good receiver) on offense to warrant a roster spot. I love guys that can play special teams and Aiken would get a spot if he was better than any other receiver on the team, but he's not. So, in the end, Aiken was let go but I know he won't be out of work for long.
Check out this link for the complete list of Patriots cuts.
