Patriots will not pick up option for first-round offending lineman

The NFL due date to pick up the fifth-year alternative for 2022 first-round picks is approaching.For the Patriots,

their choice was an obvious one.According to ESPN, the Patriots are not picking up the fifth-year option for Cole Strange. Prepared 29th total in 2022, this alternative would’ve paid Unusual$16.8 million in 2026. This means the offensive lineman will enter this season in the last year of his novice contract.The NFL due date to get this choice is on Thursday.Strange was a questionable pick by Bill Belichick. A standout guard at Chattanooga,

he was an expected second or third-round pick. However, the Patriots saw him as an ultra-athletic lineman who would start immediately.That’s what Strange did-starting every game his rookie season at left guard. In 2023, Strange made 10 starts before suffering a torn patellar tendon. The healing wasn’t easy. Strange said last season that he needed to learn how to walk again.Before that injury, Bill Belichick stated of Strange, “I believe he’s been playing his finest football lately.””It was extremely discouraging because I felt the exact same method,”Strange said last season.”I seemed like for the first time remaining in the league, I kind of entered the swing of things

. My rookie year, I seemed like I got better, and at the end of the year, I was playing better. Then last year, I was hurt on and off throughout the year. But then at the end, I felt like it kind of clicked with me. It was extremely annoying. But it is what it is and here we are. “Unusual returned to the practice field last November and the coaching personnel moved him to the center position. He ended up playing in three games

, making two starts at center.This offseason, the Patriots have actually stated they want Unusual to keep operating at center. Last week, after the team drafted center Jared Wilson in Round 3, Eliot Wolf was asked if that could signify Strange moving back to left guard.”Yeah, we see adaptability as the name of the game here, “Wolf said.” So, we seem like Cole, certainly, has the experience at guard mostly, he got that great experience at center last year, so we feel like he can complete at both spots.”More Patriots Material