Former Patriots DL Dominique Easley Goes Unclaimed On Waivers

Ian Rapoport reports that no team placed a waiver claim for former Patriots first-round pick DL Dominique Easley off of waivers on Thursday.

The Patriots surprisingly cut Easley loose on Wednesday after just two years in New England. Reports have said that the Patriots’ decision to release Easley involved some off-the-field concerns, so this may have played a role in no one claiming him.

Easley, 23, was taken with the No. 29 overall pick during the 2014 NFL Draft. He is in the third of his four-year, $7.303 million rookie contract that included $5.887 million guaranteed and stands to make a base salary of $1.084 million for the 2016 season and another $1 million in 2017.

Easley’s career has largely been marred by injury, as he appeared in just 22 games over the course of his two years in the NFL with both seasons ending with him on injured reserve. In college, Easley tore both of his ACLs while playing for Florida, so there were obvious concerns about injuries hampering his NFL career.

In 2015, Easley appeared in 11 games for the Patriots and recorded 15 tackles and two sacks. Pro Football Focus gave him a solid rating overall last year, despite playing 275 snaps for the Patriots.