Mike Vrabel's Patriots release veteran LB to free up $2,800,000 in cap space

The New England Patriots are entering a new era in 2025 with Mike Vrabel being announced as the new head coach. He takes over from Jerod Mayo who had a one-year stint after he took over from Bill Belichick. Vrabel's Patriots made a roster move on Wednesday to free up some cap space ahead of free agency, which officially begins in under a month.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport took to X on Wednesday to share that the Patriots were releasing veteran linebacker Sione Takitaki who signed a two-year deal with New England before last season.

"The #Patriots announced that they have released LB Sione Takitaki," Rapoport wrote.

Takitaki appeared in 11 games, recording 21 total tackles, seven of which were solo tackles. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Cleveland Browns after being selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. For Cleveland, he recorded 268 total tackles, 157 of which were solo tackles, 14 tackles for loss and 4 sacks.

Former Patriots wide receiver refuses to campaign for the Hall of Fame

Julian Edelman had a solid career, spent entirely with the New England Patriots, and he won three Super Bowls, while also taking home Super Bowl LIII MVP honors. He recently revealed that he has no plans to campaign for voters to honor him with a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

"I'm not a campaigner," Edelman said. "That wasn't my goal in life, to make the Hall of Fame. My goal in life was to go out and hoist a Lombardi trophy and I got to do that three times, and played my best football games in those matches, so that's pretty much where I stand with all that stuff."

Edelman continued:

"I'm not going to sit here and campaign to try to get into the Hall of Fame. I think that's lame. If I get in, I get in. If I don't, I got a beautiful eight-year-old daughter and I got three trophies that I'll be happy with for the rest of my life. Four, because I got the MVP of the last one."

Edelman retired with 6,822 receiving yards and 36 touchdowns on 620 receptions. He also added 1,986 punt return yards and four touchdowns on 177 punt returns. His true impact, however, came in the postseason where he caught 118 passes for 1,442 yards, which both rank as the third-best records in the playoffs. He also added 39 punt returns for 443 yards, both of which are NFL records.