The Patriots have waived 25-year old safety Ross Ventrone.  Ventrone played in 4 games for the Patriots this year and he had 1 tackle.  This is no loss for the Patriots and that’s really saying something considering  just how bad the secondary has been for them so far this year.

UPDATE:  (11/12/2011) – The Patriots have re-signed Ross Ventrone.

UPDATE:  (11/17/2011) – The Patriots have waived Ross Ventrone again.  He has played in 5 games for the Patriots this year and he has 1 tackle.

UPDATE:  (11/23/2011) – The Patriots waive Ross Ventrone again.  He has played in 6 games for the Patriots this year and he has 1 tackle.

The Patriots have lost 23-year old rookie cornerback Ras-I Dowling for the rest of the season.  They have placed him in the Injured Reserve List due to a hip injury that resulted from a torn tendon in his leg.  Dowling played in 2 games for the Patriots this year and he had 3 tackles.  This is a big loss for the Patriots as they were hoping that the would step up later this year.

The Patriots have waived 30-year old cornerback Leigh Bodden.  Bodden played in 5 games for the Patriots last year and he had 17 tackles and 4 passes defensed.  Bodden played in 20 games in his two years with the Patriots and he had 72 tackles, 5 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), defensed 22 passes, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and he had 1 tackle for a loss.  This was a surprising move, especially when you consider that they are playing the Steelers this weekend.

The Patriots have released 26-year old TE Dan Gronkowski.  Gronkowski played in 2 games for the Patriots this year but he didn’t catch any passes.  He has now played in 16 games in his first 3 years in the NFL and he has caught 9 passes for 69 yards (7.7 avg).  The Patriots hope that Gronkowski’s brother Rob isn’t too upset with this move, as they need his head to stay in the right place.

UPDATE:  (10/10/1011) – The Patriots have re-signed Dan Gronkowski.

UPDATE II:  (11/9/2011) – The Patriots have waived Dan Gronkowski again.  He played in five games for the Patriots this year but he didn’t get a chance to touch the ball.

The Patriots have waived 24-year old LB A.J. Edds.  Edds played in the both of the Patriots games this year and he had 1 tackle.  Coach Belichick loves to play around with the bottom of his roster in an effort to find a diamond in the rough.  It looks like he didn’t like what he saw of Edds, but at least this gives the kid a chance to hook on with another team this year.

The Patriots have released 25-year old cornerback Darius Butler.  Butler played in 15 games for the Patriots last year and he had 23 tackles and 6 passes defensed.  He played in 29 games in his two years with the Patriots and he had 58 tackles, 14 passes defensed and 3 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  The Patriots continue to revamp their secondary as they have cut a lot of guys the last week or so.  Only time will tell if those moves were smart or not.

The Patriots have released 25-year old DT Landon Cohen.  Cohen played in 4 games for the Jaguars and Patriots last year and he had 4 tackles.  He has played in 24 games in his first 3 years in the NFL and he has 30 tackles and 5 tackles for a loss.  The Patriots won’t miss Cohen at all either this year or down the road.

The Patriots have waived 34-year old RB Sammy Morris.  Morris played in all 16 games (0 starts) for the Patriots last year and he carried the ball 20 times for 56 yards (2.8 ypc).  He also caught 7 passes for 77 yards (11.0 avg) last year.  Morris played in 47 games (14 starts) in his four seasons with the Patriots and he carried the ball 334 times for 1,486 yards (4.4 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  He also caught 49 passes for 453 yards (9.2 avg) for the Patriots.  The Patriots are going with younger backs going forward, so this move make plenty of sense.

The Patriots have released 27-year old safety Brandon Meriweather.  Meriweather played in all 16 games for the Patriots last year and he had 68 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, recovered 1 fumble, defensed 6 passes and he had 3 interceptions.  He played in 64 games in his four years with the Patriots and he had 261 tackles, 12 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), defensed 27 passes, had 2 sacks, forced 5 fumbles, recovered 1 fumble and he had 9 tackles for a loss.  Meriweather was quickly signed by the Bears.  I don’t like this move at all for the Patriots.

The Patriots have released 23-year old WR/KR Brandon Tate.  Tate played in 16 games (10 starts) for the Patriots last year.  He caught 24 passes for 432 yards (18.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 62 yards (12.4 avg) and he also returned 41 kickoffs for 1,057 yards (25.8 avg) with 2 TD returns last year.  Tate played in 18 games (11 starts) in his two years with the Patriots and he caught 24 passes for 432 yards (18.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 73 yards (12.2 avg) and he returned 45 kickoffs for 1,163 yards (25.8 avg) with 2 TD returns.  The new NFL rule that moved kickoffs back up to the 35-yard line likely ended Tate’s career with the Patriots.