Sione Takitaki will need to find a third team in three years. The Patriots announced Wednesday they have moved on from the 2024 free agency addition.
The former Browns draftee signed a two-year, $6.65MM deal with the Pats in 2024. Now, his release will expand the Patriots’ cap-space lead on the NFL. Cutting Takitaki will save the Patriots $2.68MM. Not that this team needed cap space, but it is now close to $130MM in available funds.
Seeing more playing time in Cleveland, Takitaki had rejoined Eliot Wolf in Foxborough. Wolf was still with the Browns when then-GM John Dorsey drafted Takitaki in the 2019 third round. Takitaki re-signed in Cleveland in 2023 but moved on last year, finding another short-term payday with the Patriots. His usage rate dropped, however, and checked in at 27% (194 snaps) on defense.
Takitaki, 29, saw an ACL tear end his initial Cleveland contract year in December 2022. While he was back on the field by Week 1 of the 2023 season, more injury issues intervened in New England. Takitaki began the season on the Pats’ reserve/PUP list, missing the first five games and then missing another contest in Week 7. A knee scope required the additional rehab time. Takitaki never gained a regular starting role, being a first-stringer in four games and clearing a 40% snap rate just twice last season.
New England, which saw its defense decline considerably after decades near the top of the league under Bill Belichick, has a host of issues to address in the offseason. The team has a historic amount of cap space, potentially more in light of Wednesday’s news the salary ceiling will check in around $280MM, but plenty of need areas. Ja’Whaun Bentley still leads the way at linebacker for the Pats, but he is coming off a season-ending injury. Jahlani Tavai led the Pats in LB snaps last season, logging 916. Tavai was among the many Wolf extension recipients last year, signing his new deal several weeks after Takitaki joined the team. Mike Vrabel can be expected to address his former position soon, however.
While Takitaki’s knee trouble provided a line of demarcation for him, he has earned more than $10MM during a six-year career. The Browns used the BYU alum as a 36-game starter from 2019-23. Takitaki notched a pick-six in 2020 and intercepted Ben Roethlisberger during the final stages of the Browns’ wild-card upset win in Pittsburgh. As a vested veteran, Takitaki passes straight to free agency.