"Again, our main focus is getting ready for Kansas City, but we do want to have the best possible roster we can put together both this week and for the long term. Those are considerations [vice president of player personnel] Scott [Pioli] and our scouts are continuing to go through on the waiver wire and taking a close look at some of the players who are available."
NFL rosters are volatile this time of year because there are so many players out on the market. All 32 teams have had to cut down from a maximum of 75 players to a maximum of 53 - not including roster exemptions like the one the Patriots got for Kevin Faulk because of his one-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. That leaves a pool of 600-plus players to pick from. So the Patriots tinkering with the roster is not necessarily a sign of panic after an 0-4 preseason, but due diligence to make sure no opportunity to improve is left unexplored.
Belichick compared the aftermath of the cuts to a mini-draft, a compressed period of player evaluations.
"You are kind of going through a lot of people and are trying to put a team together to play in a week," said Belichick. "At the same time, this is the best time of year to get players other than the draft because they are all available."
Belichick and Pioli pounced on O'Neal after the veteran cornerback was released by the Bengals Saturday and cleared waivers. While it may have been a surprise to some that the two-time Pro Bowler was available, the Patriots had built some flexibility into their roster in case O'Neal was free. That's part of the game this time of year - evaluating other teams' rosters.
"I don't think there was anybody on there that we had any interest in that was a real surprise that they were on [the waiver wire]," said Belichick. "I'm not saying that we cut everyone else's team. I don't mean it that way.
