Report: Patriots Release WR Mohamed Sanu

New England gave up a second-round pick for Sanu ahead of the trade deadline last season.

The New England Patriots have made their first roster cut ahead of the deadline on Saturday. They have released veteran wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, according to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport. 

Source: The #Patriots are releasing veteran WR Mohamed Sanu. A surprise.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 2, 2020

Rapoport also noted that Sanu was not released in time to make Wednesday's wire, which leaves open the opportunity for New England to trade him before tomorrow. 

The release won’t be in time for today’s wire, and we’ve seen examples of teams who ended up trading players they intended to release. With so many WR-needy teams, Mohamed Sanu is one to watch. https://t.co/DiL73ANdfV

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 2, 2020

The move is understandable. The six-time Super Bowl champions traded a second-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for the veteran receiver ahead of the trade deadline last season, but Sanu has not been very productive since then. Battling through an ankle injury last season, Sanu gathered 26 receptions for 207 yards and one touchdown. He struggled to show improvement during camp this summer, which is why the 31-year-old receiver is now out the door in Foxboro. 

Sanu was set to have a base salary of $6.5 million in 2020 with a cap number of the same figure. Cutting him saves the team $6.5 million, per OverTheCap. 

With three days to go before the Patriots are required to shave their roster down to 53 players, their wide receiver room now consists of Julian Edelman, N'Keal Harry, Damiere Byrd, Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski, Jeff Thomas, Devin Ross, Isaiah Zuber and Andre Baccellia. 

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