Of the 67 players to exercise their right to opt out of the 2020 NFL season due to the Coronavirus pandemic, a league-high eight were under contract with the New England Patriots at the time. While the opt-out meant that they would essentially simply skip the season and stay signed heading into 2021, not all of the eight will be back this year.
In fact, following Tuesday’s release of backup interior offensive lineman Najee Toran only half of the group is now scheduled to return to the club. Let’s take a closer look at them and the other four players that have left since the opt-out year ended.