According to multiple league sources, the Patriots have released outside linebacker/defensive end Tully Banta-Cain. Banta-Cain was tied with defensive lineman Mike Wright for the team lead in sacks with three and had started two of the team's six games. He did not start on Sunday and was credited with three tackles against the Titans. The 29-year-old Banta-Cain was in his second stint with the Patriots. A 2003 seventh-round pick of the team out of the University of California, Banta-Cain played for the Patriots from 2003 to 2006 as a reserve. A San Francisco Bay Area native, he left after the 2006 season to sign a free agent deal with the San Francisco 49ers and played for the Niners in 2007 and 2008, collecting a total of four sacks, before returning to the Patriots this season. Banta-Cain had a one-year deal with a base salary of $620,000 from profootballtalk.com http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/10/19/pats-bounce-banta-cain/ Adalius Thomas benched this week, now Banta-Cain dropped. The Pats must be gaining faith in their young LBs.
WTF why release him? too bad we have to many OLBs already... he knows how to bring pressure. PS on the topic of OLBs... has anyone spotted Murrell this season? I don't remember him on the D and I can't spot him out on ST but he is almost always active...
This would jibe with the Peppers/Merriman to Pats rumors that have been heating up the past day or so I guess...
Maybe if they didn't already re-sign him. Adam_Schefter Well, that didn't last long. One day after releasing him, the Patriots resigned LB Tully Banta-Cain.about 1 hour ago from web
AHAHAHA...epic fail. Galloway was cut and he's in Kansas City trying out for one of the worst teams in the league.
Did they release the details of the contract yet? Re-signing him to a smaller contract and cutting Galloway definitely sounds like clearing space for a trade.
He was cut because on his current contract he couldn't negotiate a longer deal until after the season. They wanted to do a multi year deal, so, they cut and resign.
They extended him and gave him a raise. The Pats were getting the minimum exception for him, and you can't do anything to alter that. So they needed to release and resign him. They did it before the deadline so he wouldn't have to go through waivers. They wanted to lock up him, Alexander, and Aiken before the uncapped year. They figure teams will pay more for role players in an uncapped season.
Pats continue planning for the future. Three second round picks in draft next year plus two first round picks in 2011 will go a long way to getting their roster back on track with a bit more youth.
