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Patriots coach Mike Vrabel decided to part ways with a rookie defensive lineman Wednesday.

To say the New England Patriots defensive line struggled in 2024 would be putting it politely. The Patriots allowed the third-most yards to running backs in the NFL (1,972) and sacked the opposing quarterback fewer times than any other team (28).

But new head coach Mike Vrabel has put a strong emphasis on defense, and the Patriots have rebuilt their defensive line. The idea has been to align with Vrabel’s aggressive, playmaking defensive philosophy as opposed to the reactive, “bend but don’t break” approach that was the Patriots’ signature on the defensive side of the ball for 24 years under legendary coach Bill Belichick.

Vrabel and player personnel head Elliot Wolf shipped tackle Davon Godchaux — who led the team last year in sacks, albeit with only five — to the New Orleans Saints. Then they brought in free agent Milton Williams, fresh off a Super Bowl championship with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Christian Barmore, a 2021 second-round draft pick out of Alabama, missed all of last season with a health scare related to blood clotting, but is reportedly fully healthy to start 2025.

Another second-round pick, from 2023 out of Georgia Tech, Keion White returns and is expected to show greater improvement in his third season, and Vrabel also added free agent Harold Landry, a protege of his from his time as head coach of the Tennessee Titans.

Patriots Well-Stocked Across Defensive Line Positions

It should come as no surprise, then, that on Wednesday the Patriots announced a roster cut — of a defensive lineman.

Rookie Wilfried Pene was signed by New England in May as an undrafted free agent out of Virginia Tech. At the time, he was described as a “potential starter.”

But the native of Tours, France, who came through the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, was always an extreme long shot to make the roster, much less the starting lineup, beating out one of the veterans who now, according to MassLive reporter Mark Daniels, “have the potential to dominate.”

In addition to the four projected starters, the Patriots also signed Chicago Bears 2021 seventh-round draft pick of of BYU Khyiris Tonga, a defensive tackle, as a free agent — and drafted Florida State DT Joshua Farmer in the fourth round this year.

Release of Pene Trims Patriots Cap Space, But Not By Much

As a result, getting his release was probably the best situation for Pene who now has the opportunity to sign with any team and try again. In his final season with the Hokies, Pene recorded 3 1/2 sacks and 33 tackles in 13 games, so he has a track record that should allow another NFL team to take a flyer on him.

Pene signed a contract with the Patriots that would have paid him $2.97 million over three years — had they kept him around for three years. Instead the Patriots paid him a $1,000 signing bonus and guaranteed just $1,000 of the cash in his contract.

However, by cutting him now, the Patriots take a dead cap hit of $333, which is the prorated amount of his signing bonus. That’s the first dead cap hit New England has taken this year — though with an estimated $60.6 million in remaining cap space, it seems doubtful that they gave much thought to the few hundred bucks that cutting Pene will cost them in terms of salary cap room.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin