The Patriots have released veteran linebacker Kyle Van Noy, freeing up $5 million dollars of cap space.

Van Noy was still a relatively productive player last season finishing with 66 tackles, 5 sacks and an interception. In the end, however, his 2022 cap number wasn’t worth that kind of production.

The Patriots needed to free up cap space and they wanted to start the process of re-tooling the linebacker room. With Dont’a Hightower, Jaime Collins and Ja’Whaun Bentley all free agents, moving on from Van Noy makes sense. It gives the Patriots an opportunity to start over at a position where they need to get younger and more athletic.

The Patriots have plenty of in house talent ready to step in and fill the void. Cameron McGrone and Ronnie Perkins were both rookies last season but neither played. McGrone is built like a Sam linebacker (OLB) but he can play the Mike (MLB) as well. Perkins can play on the edge but is certainly capable of playing off the ball as well.

Raekwon McMillan was signed as a free agent last off-season but suffered a knee injury injury during camp and missed the season. He should be ready to go by the start of next season. If last season’s training camp was any indication, McMillan is certainly capable of stepping up and replacing Bentley at Mike. He is an ideal scheme fit in the Patriots multiple defense as a first and second down player.

The Patriots will also be counting on Josh Uche and Anfernee Jennings to see what they can do as off the ball linebackers as well. Both can play on the edge but they are going to need to prove they can play in a stack alignment as well.

The draft is another avenue the Patriots could look to as a way to add an impact player to this current linebacking corp. New England currently has the 21st in the first round and there are several intriguing prospects in this draft, most notably Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd and Georgia’s Nakobe Dean. Lloyd would be a great scheme fit and could play all three downs. Dean is a heck of a player but he’s undersized and is better suited playing in a one gap scheme.

The defense needed to be re-tooled after the late season collapse. The move to a younger, faster linebacking corp started today. It will be interesting to see where Bill Belichick goes from here.