The Patriots filled their open roster spot on Tuesday by bolstering their interior offensive line.
Following the somewhat surprising release of veteran offensive lineman Nick Leverett earlier this week, the New England Patriots had a spot on their 53-man roster to fill. They did so by poaching a member of the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad: fellow O-lineman Lecitus Smith was added to provide depth up front.
What does the signing mean for New England, however? Let’s find out.
More depth at center
Removing Leverett from the equation thinned the herd along the Patriots’ interior offensive line. While the team still had practice squad members Bryan Hudson and Sincere Haynesworth to provide depth, the quality behind new starter Ben Brown was questionable.
Adding Smith will not drastically upgrade the position overall — especially in numbers given that Haynesworth was let go as well on Tuesday — but he is a more established backup option compared to what the team previously had available. And, frankly, nobody can blame the Patriots for just throwing players at the wall in hopes that some will stick given the state of their offensive line at the moment.
Experience, versatility as defining traits
Smith was a sixth-round draft pick out of Virginia Tech in 2022, and has yet to find a permanent home in the NFL. He spent time in Arizona, Houston, Philadelphia and Green Bay before arriving in New England, and has played a combined 10 games with two starts — all as a rookie for the Cardinals — totaling 209 offensive snaps between them.
While his experience is somewhat limited, it makes Smith the most experienced center on the Patriots roster at the moment. In addition, he also offers some personal flexibility.
Throughout his career, the 6-foot-3, 314-pound blocker has seen action at all three interior spots; he also played some left tackle in college. The expectation is that he will work primarily at center in New England, but he also could move over to either left or right guard if need be.
His experience does not just come in the form of playing time at actual spots, but also extends to his usage within separate schemes.
Back in college, when he primarily played left guard, Smith proved himself a flexible player capable of performing both in gap and zone schemes due to his combination of adequate agility, ability to operate in space, and lower-body power. He later spent time in zone-based schemes such as the Eagles’ and Packers’ in the NFL as well, which should make for an easier transition to Alex Van Pelt’s offense in New England.
Smith’s career as a whole might be rather unremarkable three years in, but one can see why the Patriots identified him as a player worth going after.
Another outside addition
Going back to the “throwing players at the wall” approach to roster construction mentioned above: Smith is just the latest outside addition brought in since roster cutdowns, and the third players signed off an opposing practice squad. The team previously also added defensive end Jamree Kromah — who did not play in a game, was since released, and is now back in Chicago — as well as the aforementioned Ben Brown.
Additionally, New England also made four waivers claims in late August. Of those, two might be in line to start this week agains the Jacksonville Jaguars: Demontrey Jacobs is the team’s right tackle of choice now, with Zachary Thomas the next man up at left tackle in case the injured Vederian Lowe is not cleared in time. Linebacker Curtis Jacobs and defensive tackle Eric Johnson also were picked up through waivers.
What all of those moves show is that the Patriots’ roster very much remains a flexible construct seven weeks into the season. Some of that naturally resulted from injuries, but it also is a reflection of the team’s continued overall lack of quality depth across the board.
A three-week commitment, at minimum
Per NFL rules, players signed off other teams’ practice squads will get a minimum employment of three weeks. In Smith’s case, this means that he will be on the New England 53-man roster for the upcoming games against the Jaguars, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans.
This also means that New England will have to invest at least $152,500 in Smith. On their 53-man roster, they will pay him a weekly salary of $50,833 whether he actually plays in any games or not. In total, his current salary cap number — i.e. the decrease in Patriots cap space on Tuesday — stands at $610,000.