{"id":225832,"date":"2025-03-31T16:51:47","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T20:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=225832"},"modified":"2025-03-31T16:55:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T20:55:41","slug":"breaking-patriots-5-5-sack-starter-jahlani-tavai-could-be-next-as-cut-candidate-3-logical-fits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/03\/31\/breaking-patriots-5-5-sack-starter-jahlani-tavai-could-be-next-as-cut-candidate-3-logical-fits\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: NFL Starter “Could Be Next” as Cut Candidate – 3 Logical Fits"},"content":{"rendered":"

New England Patriots’ starter Linebacker Jahlani Tavai<\/a> is a potential cut candidate after the team made the move to release Ja’Whaun Bentley. According to a report<\/a>, the Patriots will likely release the linebacker as head coach Mike Vrabel is building a new regime in New England. There might not be any room for the team under the old regime that Jerod Mayo was trying to build, so one report believes Tavai could be on the chopping block before the NFL Draft. There’s a new style in Vrabel’s defense that might not fit Tavai’s liking, and they already saw that from Bentley because they knew he wouldn’t be a fit.<\/p>\n

Originally selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the former Hawaii product began his career with the Detroit Lions, hoping to carve out a starting role. Despite having a productive rookie year, it didn’t end the way he wanted as the Tavai found himself on the injured reserve and wasn’t the same since, so the Lions let him go in 2021. However, after reuniting with former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia<\/a> in New England, the Patriots gave him a starting opportunity after spending one year on the practice squad. It wasn’t perfect, but he did record a high of 109 tackles, including 54 solo stops, last season.<\/p>\n

Tavai is a replication that only fits Mayo and Bill Belichick’s old system<\/a>. He might not be the biggest name on the market, but these three teams could pursue him.<\/p>\n

Breaking: NFL Starter Jahlani Tavai “Could Be Next” as Cut Candidate – 3 Logical Fits<\/h2>\n

Potential Destinations<\/h3>\n

Los Angeles Chargers<\/h4>\n

Last season, the Los Angeles Chargers had one of the worst run defenses<\/a>, even though the secondary unit was explosive. However, it wasn’t enough for the Chargers, as head coach Jim Harbaugh didn’t have a reliable offense, and it looks like it might be that way if they don’t add an elite wide receiver. With that, the team may have no other choice but to depend on the defense. Khalil Mack<\/a> is returning for another season, but no one should expect him to play after this year, so the only way to maximize his potential, the Chargers should add as many defensive pieces.<\/p>\n

Joey Bosa didn’t live up to expectations, but they haven’t added a reliable replacement. Mack is the only edge rusher that’s dependable, other than Teair Tart, who only has some type of upside. Tavai won’t change the entire defense, but he could be a reliable rotating piece.<\/p>\n

Baltimore Ravens<\/h4>\n

The same could be said about the Baltimore Ravens. Trenton Simpson hasn’t been able to fill the shoes that Jadeveon Clowney left for a greater contract.<\/a> Kyle Van Noy<\/a> isn’t getting any younger, so the team will eventually need to find someone who can replicate the success he had. Odafe Oweh is reportedly on the trade block, but if they ship him, they could find reliability in Tavai.<\/p>\n

The Linebacker might not be on the same mindset as an old Ray Lewis, but it’s better than having Simpson, who hasn’t been producing much.<\/p>\n

Kansas City Chiefs<\/h4>\n

As for the Chiefs, Nick Bolton<\/a> is returning to the team, which is good news for this Kansas City defense that’s always been explosive. Last season, the team brought in Josh Uche<\/a>, but he was nothing more than a band-aid. Drue Tranquill and Leo Chenal have their moments, but maybe they can use Tavai to pair with Bolton as two aggressive zone covers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One NFL starter this offseason is likely a cut candidate before the NFL Draft as there might not be room on the roster. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":225837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,10,16,18,5],"tags":[7723,7642,7811,3936,1473,33441,7466,358,7429,7394,7864,7638],"class_list":["post-225832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-ravens","category-chiefs","category-chargers","category-patriots","tag-baltimore-ravens-news","tag-chargers-featured","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-jawhaun-bentley","tag-jadeveon-clowney","tag-jahlani-tavai","tag-kansas-city-chiefs-news","tag-khalil-mack","tag-los-angeles-chargers-news","tag-new-england-patriots-news","tag-nick-bolton","tag-ravens-featured"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225832"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225847,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225832\/revisions\/225847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}