COMMENTARY
The New England Patriots are no strangers to roster turnover. Last year it was Trey Flowers and Trent Brown who departed, for Detroit and Oakland, respectively. The year before that, it was Nate Solder (New York Giants), Danny Amendola (Detroit), and Malcolm Butler (Tennessee).
The Patriots are used to this cycle. It’s what happens when you achieve the level of consistency that this franchise has for the last 20 years. Good teams have many good players. No team can afford to keep everyone forever. This especially holds true in the salary cap era of the NFL today.