Patriots urged to make realistic but unfortunate roster move with fan favorite WR originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. The New England Patriots are heading towards the 2026 regular season with a renewed sense of confidence in the offense despite reaching a high ceiling last year. Part of the reason why there is such confidence in this year's team is the offseason wide receiver pickups of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs. Both are incredible additions, and with the already in-house WRs, this is suddenly a very strong WR room. However, this does mean some bad news for one fan-favorite WR. As Bleacher Report's Moe Moton is urging the Patriots to do, cutting ties with Efton Chism III. It'd sting to see him go, but unfortunately, there's not really much of a reason to keep him around. Patriots urged to cut Efton Chism III in move that's unfortunate reality for fan favorite WR "Even if the New England Patriots trade Kayshon Boutte ahead of final roster cuts, Efton Chism III will probably be on the outside looking in at five wide receivers ahead of him on the depth chart," Moton writes. Brown and Doubs are the clear No. 1 and No. 2 options in this offense, but even behind them the Patriots will have some solid receivers to turn to. Mack Hollins is a bit of an odd veteran WR, but he does the dirty work well and has his fair share of moments that warrant keeping him on the roster. DeMario Douglas and Kayson Boutte have flashed potential during their Patriots careers, and either could be traded if the opportunity came around. But both would ideally be on the roster for the 2026 season. MORE: ESPN analyst predicts Josh Allen is already a Hall of Famer despite lack of Bills playoff success Kyle Williams, the second-year draft pick who showed promise last season, is not likely to lose his roster spot to Chism this summer even though he's been a little underwhelming. With all of those WRs in mind, Chism is, at best, the team's No. 7 WR. No team is keeping seven receivers, especially since there's a chance Chism could make it back to the practice squad after roster cutdowns anyway. Chism just doesn't really have a path to the roster unless a WR is traded, and he really stands out during preseason and camp, and the Patriots need to keep six or more WRs on the roster through cutdowns. Releasing Chism makes a lot of sense for the Patriots, and Moton's urging of the Patriots to do so is the unfortunate reality facing the fan favorite WR. More NFL news:
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