Sports
Patriots Release Kony Ealy
In March, the team traded their 2017 second-round draft pick to the Carolina Panthers for Ealy and a third-round pick.
FOXBOROUGH, MA — One of the big offseason pickups for the New England Patriots is no longer a member of the team.
The Patriots announced Saturday afternoon that defensive end Kony Ealy has been released. In March, the team traded their 2017 second-round draft pick to the Carolina Panthers for Ealy and a third-round pick.
In his Saturday afternoon conference call, head coach Bill Belichick said Easy didn't work well with the team.
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"I think it was one of those things that wasn’t working out. Nobody’s fault. He worked hard, we worked hard. A lot of effort put in, but in the end, we felt like it wasn’t going to work out," he said.
He did everything we asked him to do it. It just didn’t work out.
Find out what's happening in Foxboroughfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Ealy, who spent three seasons with the Panthers, was considered to be on the bubble and never looked comfortable in the Patriots defense. The release does raise questions about the defensive end position, an area the Patriots have depth issues, aside from Trey Flowers.
Last season, Ealy played in 16 games with six starts and finished with 32 total tackles, five sacks, three passes defensed and two forced fumbles.
Image via AP
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