Before kicking off their 2026 preseason on Thursday night, the New England Patriots made some changes to their running back group. Besides putting undrafted rookie Myles Montgomery on the waiver wire, the team of head coach Mike Vrabel also signed veteran free agents Hassan Haskins and JaMycal Hasty.
Let’s assess what the moves mean for New England with the Colts game on the horizon.
Versatile experience
Haskins and Hasty are quite similar considering that both have several years of NFL experience on their résumé and are able to fill more than one roles for the team.
Haskins, a 2022 fourth-round draft pick, has played a combined 46 regular season and playoff games over the course of his career. A big-bodied back at 6-foot-2, 228 pounds, he is not your classic between-the-tackles bruiser, but rather a well-rounded back who also can contribute in the passing game as both a receiver from the backfield and in pass protection; he also is an experienced kickoff returner.
Hasty, meanwhile, has been in the league since 2020 — including one and a half years with the Patriots between the tail-end of 2023 and 2024. He has appeared in 61 total games and like Haskins has a versatile skillset that allows him to contribute on early downs, in passing situations, and in the kickoff return game. While a smaller player at 5-foot-8, 205 pounds, he nonetheless has shown his ability to be a multi-dimensional contributor.
Long story short, both Haskins and Hasty offer plug-and-play potential with the preseason about to kick off. With Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson unlikely to play meaningful snaps, especially on Thursday, they offer more depth at the position. Speaking of which…
Added depth
Signing Haskins and Hasty, waiving Montgomery with the expectation that he will be placed on injured reserve, creates the following outlook for New England’s running back group:
Running back (8): Rhamondre Stevenson (38), TreVeyon Henderson (32), Reggie Gilliam (44 | FB), Terrell Jennings (26), Lan Larison (34), Jam Miller (30), Hassan Haskins (—), JaMycal Hasty (—)
IR (1): Myles Montgomery
As things currently stand, the aforementioned Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson are roster locks; the same is true for Reggie Gilliam at fullback. The other spots on the roster, which could be as little as one, remain up for competition. Based on the last few training camp practices, however, Terrell Jennings appears to be the clear frontrunner.
Haskins and Hasty will get their opportunities, but any of them ending up on the 53-man team would either be a testament to their adaptation skills or the depth behind Stevenson and Henderson.
Familiarity
Besides their versatility and experience, Haskins and Hasty have something else in common. Both have spent time under Mike Vrabel before.
Haskins originally entered the NFL with the Titans in 2022, and spent his first two seasons in Tennessee. He played 15 games during that span, touching the ball 36 times for 150 yards on offense and returning 19 kickoffs for an average of 21.8 yards.
Hasty, meanwhile, is one of the few players on New England’s current roster to have played under Bill Belichick, Jerod Mayo and Vrabel. His experience with the latter, however, is relatively minimal: he spent last year’s training camp and preseason in Foxborough before his late-August release. Up until that point, he touched the ball 24 times for 91 yards in two exhibition games. Still, diving into the Josh McDaniels playbook is not entirely new for the 29-year-old.
Minor cap impact
While removing Montgomery from the active roster did not have an impact the Patriots’ salary cap — his fully-guaranteed signing bonus proration was already part of the calculations — the signings of Haskins and Hasty do. Both come via identical one-year, $1.215 million minimum deals, although the expectation is that they qualify for the veteran salary benefit.
This, in turn, will allow the team to reduce their actual cap impact to $1.075 million. That is enough to make the Top 51 list, but the signings still change the books only minimally: New England loses a combined $70,000 in cap space because Andy Borregales’ $1.005 million base salary gets bumped from Top 51 status.
Second shoe to drop
Wednesday’s transactions involving Haskins and Montgomery were a net-zero move from a roster perspective. Adding Hasty later on, however, does change the calculations: him being signed puts the Patriots above the 90-man roster limit and will force a follow-up move before it can be made official. That move can either be a release, move to injured reserve or trade — time will tell.
Of course, our Patriots roster count has them at 92 at the moment. However, offensive tackle Lorenz Metz has an exemption due to his international status. As a result, New England can actually carry 91 players on the active team.