Trey

Flowers

The deadline for the Patriots to activate Flowers was this week, but he was seemingly not healthy yet. Flowers began the season on the PUP list and his second stint with the Patriots is cut short as the team chose to release him.

Flowers, who missed most of the 2022 season with a foot injury, will begin his second stint with New England. He played there from 2015 to 2018 before leaving for a monster contract in Detroit. Flowers will likely be a rotational pass rusher for the Patriots, graded by Pro Football Focus as the NFL’s 11th best pass rush in 2022.

Flowers spent last season with the Dolphins but was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury in mid-October. The veteran pass rusher appeared in just four games for the Dolphins and managed just four tackles. Flowers has 31.5 career sacks and multiple seasons with six or more sacks. If he joins the Patriots, he’ll likely do so as a situational pass rusher.

Flowers was signed just ahead of Week 1 after getting released by the Lions way earlier in the offseason. The 29-year-old registered zero sacks on 65 defensive snaps through six weeks.

They worked Flowers out on Wednesday, and there hadn’t been any other known interest in Flowers after he was released by the Lions in March. Flowers had just 3.5 sacks over his past two years with the Lions, but has hybrid ability and has traditionally been an effective run downs player. He’ll join Miami’s defensive line rotation.

Flowers was released by the Lions in March, as they cut bait three seasons into his five-year deal. Flowers struggled through injuries in Detroit and didn’t live up to his contract, but was competent when on the field. Entering his age-29 season, Flowers would provide the Dolphins with quality pass-rushing depth.

One of the big splashes of the 2019 free agent class when the Lions were busy trying to become the Patriots, Flowers is getting the heave ho three seasons into a “five-year” deal. The move clears $10.386 million in cap space, though it leaves behind more than that in dead money. The rebuilding Lions can afford it. Flowers was decent when on the field in Detroit, particularly in 2019, though he missed 19 games over the past two years. Five months shy of his 29th birthday, his market will be muted. He wouldn’t be the first ex-Pat to triumphantly return home to New England and start producing again.

The Lions are among the healthiest teams in the NFL after two weeks, though they’ll go without Flowers and Collins against Baltimore’s run-heavy offense. Collins will miss the game while the Lions try to trade him. There was no way Detroit’s defense could stop Lamar Jackson and company, even with a fully healthy defense.

It’s expected to be a three-week stint before Flowers is eligible (and able) to return in Week 12 against the Texans. Flowers has mustered two sacks and 22 tackles across 309 snaps (63%) for Detroit this year. Nick Shelton will be thrust into a prominent role behind Danny Shelton and John Penisini in the interim.

With coach Matt Patricia present, Duron Harmon, Trey Flowers and Taylor Decker addressed the media. “As a team, we looked each other in the eyes and realized that football isn’t important today,” Harmon said. “We have a platform that we are able to use not just to raise awareness but to create change.” Flowers echoed Harmon’s words. “We can’t say silent. We cannot be going on in the world with our regular day. So today, unified we stand here and we came up with these words, these slogans, and we spread the message, spread the word.” Players and teams across the league have expressed anguish at Blake’s shooting. The NFL is coming around on the issue of racial justice after its disastrous initial response to Colin Kaepernick’s protest.