Patriots Make Call On Danny Shelton For 2019 Season

The New England Patriots have added a lot of new players, and they are also interested in bringing back some familiar faces. Danny Shelton is one of them.

The defensive tackle has signed a one-year deal with the Patriots. We don’t have much info regarding the deal he agreed to, but we do know that the team has released center Jake Eldrenkamp to make room for Shelton.

It was more than obvious that Shelton’s time with the Patriots will end this offseason. New England elected to sign former Jets defensive tackle Mike Pennel over Shelton and Malcom Brown. Brown joined the New Orleans Saints, and Shelton remained on the market. Shelton was interested in returning to New England all the time, and agreed to come back for a one-year deal.

The defensive tackle first joined the Patriots last offseason after the team signed him through a trade with the Cleveland Browns. During his time in New England, the first-round pick played in 13 games and had one start. He totaled 21 tackles, a tackle for a loss and a quarterback hit. Shelton also logged 12 hurries, and that was a nice mark for him. His tackling numbers were actually low, and that is related to his lack of playing time.

Throughout the 2018 season, Shelton played in 31.06-percent of the defensive snaps for the Patriots. Lawrence Guy played in half of the defensive snaps last year, and Malcom Brown had 43.72-percent of the snaps.

Shelton played in the Super Bowl game against the Los Angeles rams and totaled two tackles. That was his first Lombardi Trophy.

The defensive tackle will be given a smaller role than last year. Pennel’s arrival changed it all, and some of the younger players may be given some extra time. Shelton and Guy will be starters on the interior of the Patriots’ defensive line. Guy and Pennel were the highest graded interior defensive lineman in the AFC East last season. Shelton was outside the top five in the division. He will have to compete for a roster spot with Byron Cowart, Adam Butler and David Parry.