So James Develin retired today from "unforeseen complications" of his neck injury. Sad to see, but I had a bad feeling about it when it basically forced him to miss most of last season once he injured it. Also, they signed Vitale (another FB) earlier in the offseason.
I'll miss him. Develin and Gronk among others were two of our best blockers on the team all these years and contributed greatly to our SB runs the past decade. Like Slater, Develin is criminally underrated.
I do think this also explains why they double dipped at TE, with one of those TEs profiling as a blocker/future FB.
Overall, it's kind of sad to see so many key guys leave. Not just Brady, but Develin, Gostkowski, Gronk (officially traded away), etc. Some of these guys who have set and hold monumental records within the franchise.