Everything was supposed to be different for the New England Patriots this year. After winning their record sixth Super Bowl in 18 years to cap off the 2018 season, the Patriots have made a rapid descent into irrelevance. Outside of 2021 when they won 10 games and squeezed into the playoffs thanks to the addition of a seventh playoff berth in each conference the previous year, New England has not staged a single winning campaign.
In 2023 and again in 2024, they ended with records of 4-13.
But to start 2025 they hired new coach Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker who played on three Super Bowl winners for the franchise. Vrabel proceeded to overhaul the roster, purging most of the players remaining from the regimes of previous head coaches Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo.
All-New Patriots, Same Old Results
The 2025 Patriots were supposed to be different. But on Sunday, they weren’t.
“Despite a decent start, Vrabel’s Patriots looked a whole lot like Mayo’s Patriots on Sunday in a 20-13 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders to start the season 0-1. It’s just Week 1, but that is a reason to be concerned,” wrote Clutch Points analyst Troy Finnegan on Monday.
“Vrabel is supposed to be a culture-changer, but the Patriots looked like the same disorganized group that they were last season under Mayo, who was heavily scrutinized for exactly that,” Finnegan concluded.
On Tuesday, the Patriots announced their first response to the disappointment of Vrabel’s New England coaching debut, and it was a head-scratcher. The Patriots cut one of the team’s breakout performers from training camp, cornerback D.J. James, according to a report by Boston.com.
James Was Surprise Standout in Patriots Preseason
The 24-year-old James was a Seattle Seahawks sixth-round draft pick in 2024, out of Auburn. But Seattle waived him before the season started last year. In September, the Patriots signed him to their practice squad where he remained throughout the season.
But the New England decision-makers saw enough potential in James to ink him to a futures contract in January, and activated him in March.
“In training camp this year James was one of the team’s surprise standouts,” wrote Patriots 98.5 radio correspondent Alex Barth. “With starting cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis both out for extended periods of time, James got extended run and made the most of his opportunities, ultimately landing a spot on the 53-man roster.”
But even though Vrabel must have been impressed by James to award him one of the team’s precious roster spots, he allowed James to play just two defensive snaps on Sunday, plus five more on special teams. The cornerback recorded one tackle in his brief moments on the field.
Why Cut James At This Moment?
Then, on Tuesday, Vrabel and the Patriots said goodbye to James altogether, taking an $870,000 dead cap hit to let the second-year player walk.
“James was the first player to intercept a pass from Drake Maye during this past training camp, and he was also the first to record an interception in the preseason opener against Washington,” according to Boston.com.
What is the advantage of cutting James at this moment?
“The Patriotsâ decision to waive him could be a sign of a bigger development,” wrote Jaleel Grandberry of Musket Fire on Tuesday. “The move could mean that promising cornerback Christian Gonzalez is on track to return from injury this week.”
Gonzalez missed most of training camp as well as the Week One game against the Raiders with a hamstring injury. But the team has given no indication as of Tuesday that the 2023 first-round draft pick, 17th overall, out of Oregon will be ready to play when the Patriots travel to Miami to face their division rivals, the Dolphins, on Sunday.
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