Fear not, Patriots fans.
The roster only was without pass rusher extraordinaire Tully Banta-Cain for 20 hours. Less than a day after releasing the sometime starter in a surprise move, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports than Banta-Cain is back in the fold.
Contract terms are not yet available, and it’s still unclear why the Patriots had to release Banta-Cain in the first place.
One irresponsibly speculative theory on my part is that they wanted to sign him to an extension, and couldn’t re-work his previous deal because it was signed in February and one year must pass before adjusting a signed contract. (Someone will let me know if this theory is wrong, I’m sure.)
Banta-Cain’s contract terms will eventually tell the story, but that’s all inside football.
The bigger takeaway is that Banta-Cain will be headed to London this week with the rest of the Patriots. We’ll have to wait until the trading deadline to see if he has any surprising new teammates coming with him.