Patriots announce release of undrafted rookie defensive end

The Patriots announced two roster moves on Monday

The New England Patriots announced they had waived defensive end John Morgan on Monday.

Morgan signed with the team as an undrafted rookie out of the University of Arkansas. He transferred to the university after spending the previous five seasons at Pittsburgh.

It was always going to be an uphill climb for Morgan to make the final roster with Deatrich Wise Jr. and Keion White at the top of the depth chart at defensive end. The Patriots also like what they have in Oshane Ximines. That didn’t leave much room for hope for Morgan.

Along with the release of Morgan, the Patriots also confirmed they had re-signed running back Deshaun Fenwick.

Perhaps Morgan could return like Fenwick did at a later point if another opportunity opens up down the line. So much can happen in a short time.

At the very least, Morgan will have a chance to seek out other options before the start of the season.

Defensive end John Morgan signs with Patriots

John Morgan didn’t get much run with the Hogs after transferring from Pitt, but New England liked his style.

John Morgan didn’t get too much a chance to crack Arkansas’ defensive line rotation in 2023 after transferring from Pittsburgh.

Apparently, New England like what it saw from him enough at Pitt and in the combine because the Patriots signed the one-year Razorback defensive to a rookie deal following the draft.

Morgan played just a season in Fayetteville and ranked 20th on the team with 15 tackles. Four came for-loss and he added two sacks and a forced fumble as he spent a bulk of the year on the team’s second unit.

At Pittsburgh, Morgan was much more productive. He had 11 quarterback hurries to go with 5 1/2 sacks during his junior season.

Morgan was one of four former Arkansas players to sign free-agent deals over the weekend after the Razorbacks saw two players – offensive lineman Beaux Limmer and kicker Cam Little – taken in the draft.

Taking Morgan’s place in the Arkansas depth chart this spring was redshirt freshman Quincy Rhodes. The Hogs open the season August 29 in Little Rock against UAPB.

John Morgan may be new to Arkansas, but should become quickly known

The Pittsburgh transfer may not be an immediate starter. Don’t be surprised to see him on Arkansas’ sacks leaderboard, though.

John Morgan spent a bulk of the last few years as a starter. That probably won’t be the case in 2023.

The defensive end transfer from Pittsburgh arrived to Arkansas in the offseason to play his final year of college football for the Razorbacks. During his time with Pitt, Morgan logged 23 tackles for-loss and 14 sacks. Those numbers place him higher than anyone else on the Razorbacks’ roster.

In fact, no one else even comes all that close among returners on Arkansas’ line. And that’s a big reason he decided to become a Razorback.

“Coming from Pittsburgh, I always played with a deep defensive line and I felt that was something that’s needed in these top conferences,” Morgan said. “You can’t really go in with five or six guys and think it’s gonna work out because injuries happen.”

Even if Morgan doesn’t find himself a starter Week 1, he will almost certainly get enough snaps – barring injury – that he should be among the team leaders in sacks and tackles for-loss by season’s end.

Missouri transfer Trajan Jeffcoat, returning senior Zach Williams and newly-healthy Taurean Carter and second-year-in-the-system end Landon Jackson. One of them won’t make the two-deep, but that’s largely irrelevant considering how much defensive line coach Deke Adams plans to roll them.

“I think depth is the biggest thing for us and knowing we have a good defensive line now, I think we’re going to have a great season,” Morgan said.

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