James Develin retires

[ozgod]

Thanks for the memories James. Not many people might have noticed you on the field because you weren't flashy but your teammates and opponents certainly did because they knew how important a role you played.

[GreenShooter]

Beast! Wish him better health.

https://www.patriots.com/video/highlight-james-develin-1-yard-touchdown-run-80546

[Neurotic Guy]

Substantial loss if he were healthy, but often wasn't. 

Others would know better than me, but it seems the duo of TEs the Pats drafted might be able to fill the valuable Develin role and help out that running game. 

[GreenShooter]

Substantial loss if he were healthy, but often wasn't. 

Others would know better than me, but it seems the duo of TEs the Pats drafted might be able to fill the valuable Develin role and help out that running game.

That's not the case. He didn't miss a game in 5 years until this neck injury. Was a HUGE part of the running game. Great blocker. Got few carries recently near goal line, likely due to Brady not doing his QB sneaks.

[byennie]

Will be missed. Hopefully Keene who has played some h-back as well as TE can fill the role with a different skill set.

Not sure but his $1.5M cap could be used for somethin small?

[gouki88]

One of the best blocking FB’s in the league, will be missed. Definitely the right call for him though.

Makes sense that we signed Vitale and drafted Keene (played some FB in college).

[boscel33]

BB probably had insight, signed a FA FB and drafted a TE that has played in the backfield before.