Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Michael Sam could be a possible Patriots match

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots will be without their best pass-rusher, Chandler Jones, for "about a month," according to the Boston Globe. With that news breaking Tuesday night and the Dallas Cowboys releasing defensive end Michael Sam off their practice squad, some have asked on Twitter if the Patriots and Sam might be a match.

Sam is the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team, and there is widespread interest in his next potential landing spot.

The Patriots lost a pass-rusher, and Sam's greatest football attribute is pass-rushing, so it makes sense that these dots have been connected. The Patriots also have openings on their practice squad.

So how about it?

If the Patriots didn't just trade for Titans linebacker Akeem Ayers and didn't have other end-of-the-line players on the practice squad in Jake Bequette and Darius Fleming, I'd feel stronger about the possibility of Sam landing on New England's practice squad. Even with Jones sidelined, the Patriots have a bit of a logjam at the position when factoring in their active roster (53 players) and practice squad (10 players).

Between rookie Zach Moore (sixth round, Concordia), Bequette and Fleming, those are three younger defensive end/outside linebackers that Sam would essentially duplicate when looking at the 63-player snapshot.

Practice-squad players are critical in that they fill out depth so the team can have a productive practice and top players won't be overworked, and that's why I think it's unlikely that the Patriots would bring Sam aboard instead of filling in other areas where they have more of a depth shortage.

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