New England Patriots: How Antonio Brown cut changes the offense

With the news of the New England Patriots releasing Antonio Brown, here’s how the departure of the wideout could impact the look of New England’s offense.

Antonio Brown’s tenure with the New England Patriots came to an abrupt end on Friday afternoon.

A few weeks after the Patriots went out and signed the star wide receiver and Pro Bowler following his brief stay with the Oakland Raiders, the team announced a few days before they are set to take on the New York Jets in Week 3 of the regular season that they have released Brown.

The news broke early on in the afternoon when ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that New England would be parting ways with its newly acquired wide receiver.

Shortly after, Brown himself confirmed the reports that he had been released by the Patriots via Twitter, tweeting a pair of pictures with a farewell caption:

Brown’s stay in New England was short-lived, as he appeared in just one contest for the Patriots while continuing to deal with an endless amount of off-the-field issues that proved to be just too much of a distraction for his new organization to put up with. As a result, New England cut the wide receivers time in Foxborough short without him playing a single game at Gillette Stadium.

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In one game with the Patriots this season, coming in a 43-0 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 2, Brown had a nice showing in his lone appearance for New England. Within the high-powered offense led by veteran and future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Tom Brady, Brown finished the blowout win with 56 yards receiving and one touchdown on a total of four catches.

With Brown officially on the way out in New England, how might his departure impact and change the look of the offense for the Patriots moving forward? It likely won’t really change all that much, actually.

With Brown, New England’s offense obviously looked more powerful than it does now that he isn’t on the current roster. But without him, both earlier this season and moving forward, this Patriots offense is still one of the more potent offensive units in the NFL. Whenever you have Brady lined up behind center leading an offense, that unit will look and run smooth as it has throughout the course of his entire career, regardless of the personnel lined up alongside him.

Outside of Brady, he still has reliable weapons such as Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon and Phillip Dorsett lined up on the outside of the field to air the ball out to, as well as being able to rely on the running back duo of James White and Sony Michel to not only run the ball on the ground but catch the ball out of the backfield.

When it comes to Edelman, Gordon, Dorsett and the rest of the wide receiving group on the Patriots, the release of Brown will open things up for them and allow them more opportunities moving forward within the scheme of the offense.

In the lone game without Brown, a season-opening victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at home, New England tallied 373 total yards receiving with three touchdowns. In that game, the Patriots were led by Dorsett with 95 yards and two touchdowns, Gordon with 73 yards receiving and one touchdown and Edelman with 83 total yards through the air.

Whenever you part ways with an All-Pro wide receiver and one of the caliber of Brown, it typically impacts an offensive unit and leaves a gaping hole within it. But since Brown’s stay in New England was so short-lived, his somewhat unexpected departure and brief stay with the Patriots likely won’t impact them and their receiving group all that much as the season continues to roll along this weekend.