Bill Belichick explains why Patriots did not activate Ben Watson: 'We only have so many roster spots'
Veteran tight end Benjamin Watson was not activated to the New England Patriots' 53-man roster by the 4 p.m. deadline on Monday, which marks his release from the team, making him a free agent.
It was an odd decision to release Watson, seeing that the Patriots are openly looking for more pass catchers and Watson is just that, albeit at 38 years of age. Head coach Bill Belichick was asked about the decision to not activate Watson during his weekly interview with WEEI's afternoon radio show "OMF" Wednesday afternoon.
"Just don't have a roster spot," Belichick said. "We only have so many roster spots. If we put somebody on, we have to take somebody off. Right now, there wasn't a roster spot. We didn't feel like there was somebody we could create a roster spot with. Everybody came out of the game healthy. We have a decent team. So I think that's where we're at."
As much of a roster-orientated approach the decision seem to have come down to, it's very telling of how hesitant the team is to release a player from another position outside of TE to free up a roster spot for Watson. Adding the pass-catching tight end to a struggling offensive arsenal would have been helpful, but apparently not as helpful as having depth at other positions.
