With the Patriots adding depth across their offensive line, they then had to lighten up their tight end room a bit.
On Monday afternoon, the New England Patriots and veteran offensive lineman Greg Van Roten agreed to a deal to bring the former New York Giant in to add insurance to the offensive line before the regular season begins.
With that comes some movement on the roster, and the Patriots officially opened up a spot on Tuesday by waiving tight end Mitch Van Vooren.
Van Vooren signed with the team in July after visiting from a workout. Van Vooren saw action this past week in the 13-13 preseason tie game with the Indianapolis Colts when he caught one pass for four yards from quarterback Behern Morton. He played five snaps and appeared on special teams during the game.
The tight end entered the league undrafted out of St. Norbert College, where he caught 33 passes for 510 yards and 10 touchdowns on the way to first-team All-NACC honors as a graduate student in 2024. He began his collegiate career at Marquette University, where he broke school records as a track athlete with a 51.38-second 400-meter hurdles time.
He spent his rookie training camp last summer split between the Seattle Seahawks and the Cleveland Browns. Van Vooren spent nine days as a Seahawk and 20 days with the Browns.
The move to waive Van Vooren comes after just 27 days with the Patriots.
Waiving Van Vooren now tightens the tight end room, with five members still on the roster. Patriots team captain and newly extended Hunter Henry, rookies Eli Raridon and Tanner Arkin, and the returning Jack Westover and C.J. Dippre all currently have a spot on the team's roster.
The transaction keeps the team at capacity with a 91-man roster as it gears up for joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles. The two franchises will play one another in a preseason game this Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots are also keeping the door open for potential signings down the road if needed. Just this week, both defensive tackle DaQuan Jones and linebacker Shaq Thompson all had free agency visits this week.
Patriots Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Patriots. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.
