Tom E. Curran of CSNNE.com initially reported the news on the former University of Florida standout, who was the 29th overall pick in 2014.
On Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported no teams claimed Easley, who is now a free agent.
Easley ended each of his first two years in the NFL on injured reserve—this year for a thigh injury and last year because of a knee injury. He also had his senior season with the Gators cut short because of a torn ACL, and he suffered ACL tears to both knees in college.
The 24-year-old appeared in 11 games in each of the past two seasons and racked up 25 combined tackles, three sacks and one interception.
Per ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss, the move to release Easley costs the Patriots a $3.6 million cap hit. Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com speculated on the other costs of Wednesday's transaction:
Jason_OTC @Jason_OTCAssuming easley did nothing to void guarantee, if claimed Patriots will owe nothing, if signed they probably owe 400k, if not signed $1m
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reported the Patriots may only have to pay a portion of the $1.1 million in guaranteed money this season due to offset language in Easley's contract.
Curran noted Easley's release had to do with "philosophical differences." However, Volin provided more details:
“Saw that coming,” one of Easley’s former Patriots teammates said upon hearing the news. “Injuries and locker room cancer.”
[...]
Multiple league sources said Easley was unreliable and immature.
“He’ll make an appointment for a massage and not show up,” one source said. “He’s just very disrespectful and irresponsible.”
“I think he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,” another source said. “He comes across as an entitled kid. He reneges on everything. He thinks he’s invincible.”
Given his age, evident potential and gaudy draft status, any team could take a flier on Easley to kick the tires—presuming he's healthy enough to compete in training camp.
The fact that the Patriots cut Easley loose despite him having as many as three years on a relatively inexpensive rookie contract doesn't bode well for his football future. Zoltan Buday of Pro Football Focus is among those who believe there may be more to Easley being released than meets the eye:
Zoltán Buday @PFF_ZoltanThere's got to be more to this Easley cut. He was playing well when healthy and you don't cut a player like that in April
Pre-Snap Reads' Cian Fahey weighed in on how many core defenders the Patriots have lost from last season's team that went to the AFC title game:
New England ought to be fine on the defensive front and appears keen to transition to a 3-4 base alignment as opposed to the 4-3 it's run in recent years.
The free-agent addition of nose tackle Terrance Knighton suggests the Pats are indeed transforming their defensive front, as does the decision to trade star pass-rusher Chandler Jones to the Arizona Cardinals.
Also helping lessen the blow of Easley's departure is Malcom Brown, whom the Patriots picked up as the 32nd overall pick in last year's draft. Brown played in all 16 games in 2015 with 12 starts, registering 48 combined tackles and three sacks.
Between Brown, Knighton and Alan Branch, New England has enough beef up front to absorb Easley's absence—and the team fared fine without him in the lineup as it was.
