{"id":108330,"date":"2025-10-16T08:51:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T08:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=108330"},"modified":"2025-10-16T08:51:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T08:51:14","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8foxboro-flash-patriots-shock-fans-by-signing-safety-richie-grant-a-quiet-but-strategic-move-that-could-redefine-the-defense-and-spark-a-midseason-revival-ll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=108330","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8FOXBORO FLASH: Patriots Shock Fans by Signing Safety Richie Grant, A Quiet but Strategic Move That Could Redefine the Defense and Spark a Midseason Revival..ll"},"content":{"rendered":"<article id=\"post-377436\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bostonherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP24359168881676.jpg?w=525\" alt=\"Patriots sign ex-Falcons veteran starting safety amid injuries\" \/><\/p>\n<p>October 15th, 2025 at 9:10pm CST by Ely Allen<\/p>\n<div data-swiftype-index=\"true\">\n<p>Patriots safety <strong>Jaylinn Hawkins<\/strong>\u2018 hamstring injury may be worse than reports so far have shown. After missing last week\u2019s game because of the injury, Hawkins did not participate in practice today, and in a move that may be linked to the situation, New England signed former Falcons starting safety <strong>Richie Grant<\/strong>, per Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald.<\/p>\n<p>Grant\u2019s contract with the Patriots will reportedly be a practice squad deal, continuing a downward trend for the former second-round pick out of UCF. Grant served almost two years in Atlanta as a full-time starter following his rookie campaign. Late in 2023, though, he got passed up on the depth chart, and last year, he only started one game in the Falcons secondary.<\/p>\n<p>As a free agent, Grant signed with the 49ers and even made the initial 53-man roster, but he was waived two days later. Once again a free agent, Grant was able to work out with the Colts in the days leading up to the regular season, but ultimately, no deal came along.<\/p>\n<p>Hawkins has been part of a new-look defensive backstop for the Patriots this year. The team released <strong>Jabrill Peppers<\/strong> before the start of the season, and trade rumors had been surrounding <strong>Kyle Dugger<\/strong> for some time. Hawkins, a waiver claim during the 2024 season, and <strong>Craig Woodson<\/strong>, a fourth-round rookie who hails from the same alma mater as Hawkins, opened the season as the team\u2019s starting safeties.<\/p>\n<p>With Hawkins\u2019 absence stretching into the early days of practice this week, there\u2019s a chance New England pursued Grant because of his starting experience. Dugger struggled in last week\u2019s start, second-year defender <strong>Dell Pettus<\/strong> has been working in a minimized box safety role this year, and <strong>Brenden Schooler<\/strong> is an All-Pro special teamer. Grant\u2019s two years of starting experience may give him a shot at filling in until Hawkins can overcome his ailing hamstring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins missing time last week due to a hamstring injury, New England has added Richie Grant to its taxi squad&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":108334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4173,22,1713,267],"class_list":["post-108330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-jaylinn-hawkins","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-richie-grant","tag-transactions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udea8FOXBORO FLASH: Patriots Shock Fans by Signing Safety Richie Grant, A Quiet but Strategic Move That Could Redefine the Defense and Spark a Midseason Revival..ll - 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