Patriots Announce Signing of ‘Potential Starter,’ 2 Others After Tryouts

The moves made in the weeks after the NFL draft, generally speaking, fizzle out once training camp gets into full swing over the summer. Teams like the Patriots can carry a 90-man roster all the way until the end of August, and then it becomes time to hack away down to 53 players, the final roster.

Most drafted players will make that roster. A small handful of undrafted players will land either on the roster, too, or on the 16-player practice squad, which must include at least 10 rookies/undrafted players. Thus, even with an 11-player draft class like the Patriots had this year, there will be room for some late rookie signings to stick around.

On Monday, after weekend tryouts, New England announced it had added three players to the 90-man: first-year defensive tackle Isaiah Iton and rookie free agents Mehki Butler, a guard out of Arkansas State, along with defensive tackle Wilfried Pene from Virginia Tech.

Mekhi Butler Will Compete to Fill LG Spot

Again, these are roster longshots, but given the state of the Patriots’ offensive line–even with notable offseason improvements–the signing of Butler is especially interesting. He was, according to CBS Boston, the top-rated offensive lineman in the Sun Belt Conference, and it is worth stating that the left guard spot is very much up for grabs.

The Patriots figure to have rookie Will Campbell handling the left tackle spot, with Michael Onwenu at right guard and ex-Vikings starter Garrett Bradbury at center. Another signee, Morgan Moses, will be at right tackle, and those four are pretty well set in stone at this point.

Not so certain is left guard, though, where Cole Strange, the team’s first-rounder in 2022, is probably on his last chance to secure the role. Strange missed most of last year as he was recovering from a torn patellar tendon, and had a rough time when he did get back on the field. His chief competitor will be Layden Robinson, who garnered a PFF grade of 43.6 last year, which was 74th out of 77 guards in the NFL.

Butler will be in the mix for the job, though, and CBS noted that he is, “set to battle for a depth spot. But anyone from that group could potentially emerge as New England’s starter by the time the season arrives.”

Patriots Adding 2 More Defenders

Of the rest of the signees, Iton is not coming directly out of college. He spent last season with the Titans, though he did not play.

As the Patriots team site noted, Iton is 23 and was, “originally signed with the Tennessee Titans as a rookie free agent out of Rutgers on May 10, 2024. The 6-foot-2, 277-pounder, was released by Tennessee and spent the season on the practice squad.”

As for Pene, the Patriots wrote that he, “played in 34 games at Virginia Tech and finished with 63 total tackles with 4 sacks. The 6-foot-2, 283-pounder, played in all 13 games last season and finished with 33 total tackles and 3½ sacks. Pene was born in Tours, France.”