The Patriots have now cut ties with every player who had been part of their Super Bowl core. After moving on from Jonathan Jones, David Andrews and Deatrich Wise earlier this offseason, the team is parting ways with its long snapper from the second leg of its dynasty.
New England released Joe Cardona on Tuesday. This came after the Pats used a seventh-round pick on a deep snapper Saturday. Cardona had been with the Pats for 10 seasons. He entered the offseason tied with Andrews as the team’s longest-tenured player, but a Pats draft move changed his course.
Although the team obtained the Mr. Irrelevant pick, that did not go to Cardona’s replacement. Instead, the Pats chose Vanderbilt’s Julian Ashby six spots earlier. The only team to use a draft choice specifically on a long snapper this year, the Patriots served notice Cardona’s time could be up. Rather than a competition, Cardona will have a chance to catch on elsewhere soon.
The light workload long snappers consume keeps their salaries in the NFL basement, but it also allows for long careers. Cardona’s experience certainly should put him in line for consideration elsewhere, even as he has spent his entire career in Foxborough. Bill Belichick used a fifth-round pick on Cardona in 2015, choosing him 166th overall out of Navy. He teamed with Stephen Gostkowski during the Adam Vinatieri successor’s final stretch in New England and collected two Super Bowl rings, playing in three Super Bowls in total.
Cardona signed three Patriots contracts, inking two four-year deals as a veteran. Two seasons remained on Cardona’s third New England accord — a four-year, $6.3MM pact — but the Patriots will incur only $500K in dead money from this release. While no Pro Bowls are on Cardona’s resume, it would surprise if the 33-year-old snapper did not resurface for an 11th NFL season elsewhere.
The Pats lost Jones and Wise to the Commanders in free agency, while the team cut Andrews after he missed most of last season. Although the most memorable chapter in Patriots history effectively closed when Belichick was forced out (four years after Tom Brady‘s exit changed the franchise’s trajectory), the team officially wrapped it by moving on from the above-referenced quartet of Super Bowl contributors this year.