A day after extending wide receiver Sam Aiken to a contract through 2011, which increased his 2009 base salary from $645,000 to $1.16 million, the Patriots jettisoned the 37-year-old Galloway, who had been guaranteed $1.8 million but lost his value after he struggled mightily to pick up the offense and was inactive the past three games.
“Joey, [we] moved on on that one,’’ Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “He’s had a great career. It was just one of those things that didn’t work out. I don’t think it’s anybody’s fault or anything. I don’t think you can pinpoint it. It’s just one of those things that just didn’t work out.’’
Galloway, in his 15th year in the NFL, saw his role steadily diminish after making his Patriots debut (but no catches) in the season opener vs. the Bills. He started the next game, a 16-9 loss against the Jets, and made five catches for 53 yards, but was remembered for the catch he didn’t make on a crucial fourth-down pass that wound up getting deflected.
The following week, in a 26-10 victory over the Falcons, Galloway seemed to lose the trust of Tom Brady, who rolled his eyes after Galloway dropped a second-and-10 pass attempt from the Atlanta 15. The Patriots wound up having to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. In the first quarter of that game, Galloway straddled the back line of the end zone and stepped out of bounds, nullifying an apparent 7-yard touchdown pass.
Galloway’s fate was all but sealed when he was placed on the inactive list for the last three games.
Asked what his expectations were when the Patriots signed Galloway March 19, Belichick replied, “That it would work out. Any time you sign a player, you expect that he’ll come in and be a productive player. He was inactive the last three games and it just didn’t really work out for us, unfortunately, but sometimes that happens.’’
Banta-Cain and Alexander were released before the trade deadline ostensibly to give the team the option of extending their contracts without having to expose them to waivers.
