Even with the team itself on its summer break, the New England Patriots are not done fine-tuning their roster heading toward training camp. Late on Monday, they did just that by signing veteran offensive tackle Yasir Durant.
Let’s assess how the move impacts the Patriots a month before training camp.
Offseason theme continued
Since hiring Mike Vrabel in January, the Patriots have placed a high value on familiarity as far as outside additions are concerned. Durant falls in the same category, even though he has never worked with the Patriots’ new head coach.
He has, however, spent time with both offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and offensive line coach Doug Marrone. Durant appeared in seven games for the McDaniels-led Patriots offense during the 2021 season, and in one contest for a New Orleans Saints team that employed Marrone as O-line coach in 2022.
Improved depth up front
Even though he has not appeared in an NFL game since the 2022 season, Durant has some attributes worth working with. Standing at 6-foot-7 and 330 pounds, he is well-built to hold his own along the offensive line, and also brings some positional flexibility to the table: in his first stint with the Patriots, he played both right tackle and right guard.
Obviously, the Patriots are set atop the depth chart at Durant’s two positions; Mike Onwenu and Morgan Moses project as a formidable starting duo on the right side of New England’s offensive line. That said, Durant having experience at more than one position should help his chances of earning practice reps and potentially a spot on the roster or practice squad.
To do so, he will need to perform against the likes of backup tackles Caedan Wallace, Marcus Bryant, Vederian Lowe and Demontrey Jacobs as well as interior linemen Tyrese Robinson, Jared Wilson, Sidy Sow, Layden Robinson, Ben Brown, Jack Conley and Mehki Butler.
Minimal salary cap impact, if that
Even though the details of his deal are not yet available, it seems unlikely that Durant signed a contract extending beyond a single season and the minimum salary relative to his experience. If that is indeed the case, he would carry a $1.03 million base salary into the 2025 season.
That number would mean that Durant would not qualify for Top 51 status, and therefore not hit the Patriots’ salary cap for the time being. The NFL, after all, only counts a team’s 51 most expensive contracts against the cap during the offseason. A player not among that group does therefore not impact a team’s cap space, with the exception of any potential guarantees.
Durant is not expected to have any of those in his deal, nor a salary that would put him into Top 51 contention. His market likely was not lively enough for that given his relatively unremarkable NFL career so far as well as the fact that he spent the last 15 months in the UFL.
Roster full
Following the retirement of fellow offensive lineman Wes Schweitzer earlier this month, the Patriots had an open spot on their 90-man offseason roster.
It took them two weeks to fill the void, but they now have a full complement of players under contract again.
A head count, of course, reveals that New England now has 91 players signed. Undrafted rookie defensive lineman Wilfried Pene, however, is roster exempt due to his status as an international player.
