Former and now current Patriot Yasir Durant was signed by the Patriots this week.

The Patriots filled out their roster to the maximum of 90 players with the signing of offensive lineman Yasir Durant this week.

While players signed towards the end of June don’t usually get much of a look in preseason and are instead used as camp bodies, there’s reason to believe they may have something with Durant.

Durant, 27, entered the league as a UDFA in 2020 following a four-year college career that started at Western Arizona before he transferred to Missouri for the next three seasons.

The Chiefs signed him, and he made their roster, playing 91 snaps and allowing one sack.

PFF didn’t rate him highly, as he finished the season with a 45.1 overall grade, 121st out of 132 qualifying tackles.

The name Yasir Durant may sound familiar to Patriots fans: not only is he a former Patriot, but he’s also someone the team actively traded for.

On cutdown day before the 2021 season, the Patriots sent a 2022 seventh-round pick to Kansas City for Durant.

Durant played a similar role in New England as a depth piece, playing 95 snaps but allowing three sacks. His PFF grade did improve, though, rising to 59.4.

The Patriots cut Durant the following year, and he would play just two more offensive snaps in the NFL.

The Patriots are getting an improved Yasir Durant from his first stint in New England

Durant joined the UFL’s 2025 champion DC Defenders in March of 2024 and was stellar.

Ranked the second-best pass blocker in 2024, Durant stepped up his game even more in 2025, becoming PFF’s highest graded lineman overall.

Standing at 6’7″ and 330 pounds, Durant’s frame is a tremendous asset. In nearly 1,200 UFL snaps, Durant has allowed a single sack and 11 pressures.

He’s played the large majority of his snaps at left tackle, but also approached the 300-snap mark at left guard.

As previously mentioned, signings in late June often mean very little, but Durant’s improvement compared to his initial production in the NFL is meaningful.

The Patriots are likely looking for more help at tackle than guard at the moment, given the sheer number of interior linemen they roster.

At tackle, the team features projected starters Will Campbell and Morgan Moses, last year’s starter Vederian Lowe, 2024 third-round pick Caedan Wallace, 2025 seventh-round pick Marcus Bryant, and PFF’s 137th-ranked tackle, Demontrey Jacobs.

There’s no doubt Durant has an uphill battle to make the team. Campbell, Moses, and Wallace are likely to all make the roster, and assuming Lowe has an okay preseason, he should slide into the swing tackle role.

That leaves Bryant and Jacobs as the real competition.

Bryant has no experience, and Jacobs had a dismal 2024. Durant’s versatility to play guard as well could give him the upper hand over those two for a spot at the end of the roster.

At guard, Layden and Tyrese Robinson, along with Sidy Sow and Mekhi Butler, are behind starters Cole Strange and Mike Onwenu.

Sow and Butler shouldn’t be much trouble to fend off, but Layden started the latter half of the year, and Tyrese had a stellar 88.2 pass blocking grade in his 61 snaps played.

Given the versatility of Durant, he could operate as a backup guard and tackle on the practice squad, though tackle is the place where he seems more comfortable.

Being a top practice squad player is likely where Durant will slot in if he has a strong camp, and in the event of an injury, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a roster elevation or two throughout the year.

There’s no doubt it’s an uphill battle, but he’s shown what’s necessary in the UFL to have a role in the NFL.