The New England Patriots needed to do some house cleaning Saturday after signing free agents C.J. Marable and Micah Vanterpool.
With the Patriots over capacity on the 90-man roster with those additions, they decided to subtract from their defense to get down to the required mark.
New England announced that it released linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi and safety Jourdan Heilig to make room for Marable and Vanterpool on the roster.
Fatukasi signed with the Patriots in January after spending a majority of time last season with Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he played in 13 games and made six tackles, which all came on special teams.