New England Patriots: Predicting 5 most surprising roster cuts of 2018

3. S Jordan Richards

The draft community as a whole (myself included) was shocked when the Patriots selected Jordan Richards in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. By most accounts, he was a mid-round talent at best. And yet, we figured Belichick and Co. knew best.

Well, it appears they were wrong with this one. Since coming to Boston, Richards has done little more than underwhelm as a backup in the New England secondary. So much so that, at this point Patriots fans are banging the table for him to receive his walking papers as soon as possible.

His ineffectiveness has gotten to the point where the Patriots are willing to do almost anything to get some value out of the busted second-round pick. They got desperate enough to try him at linebacker in 2017, which didn’t yield much better results. Now, as we head into 2018, it’s looking like he could finally be the odd man out.

Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung and Duron Harmon all appear safe. Nate Ebner’s special teams role could save him, while Richards figures to fight with David Jones and Brandon King for the final spot or two on the safety depth chart. If I had to guess, though, I’d say Richards will lose that battle.

Every team swings and misses sometimes. Richards is the latest example that proves the Patriots are far from perfect.