New England Patriots 2018 roster breakdown: #84 WR Cordarrelle Patterson The New England Patriots currently have 88 players on their active roster. However Drew Bledsoe Jersey Salute to Service , only 53 of them will be able to survive the cutdowns on September 1 and ultimately make the team. Over the course of the offseason, we take a look at the players fighting for those spots to find out who has the best chances of helping the Patriots recapture the Vince Lombardi Trophy.Today, the series continues with one of New England’s offseason additions.Name: Cordarrelle PattersonPosition: Wide receiverJersey number: 84Opening day age: 27Experience: 5Size: 6’2, 230 lbs.2017 review: Despite him earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors at kickoff returner in 2016, the Minnesota Vikings decided to let Cordarrelle Patterson hit the open market after the end of his rookie deal in 2017. It did not take long for the former first-round draft pick to find a new home: the Oakland Raiders signed Patterson to a two-year, $8.5 million contract – an investment that did not fully work out for the team.Like the Vikings, the Raiders gave Patterson plenty of opportunities to prove himself on both offense and in the kicking game. Serving as Oakland’s number four wide receiver, he was on the field for 42.7% of the team’s offensive snaps (430 of 1,080). A rotational and package-specific option, Patterson was used as both a pass catcher and a ball carrier to take advantage of the vision and athleticism that make him an elite kick returner.However, he failed to establish himself as a regular on the Raiders’ offense and therefore finished the season with a relatively modest 430 yards from scrimmage: Patterson caught 31 passes for 309 yards and received an additional 13 carries for 121 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Solid numbers for a depth wide receiver Authentic Malcom Brown Jersey , but not what is generally expected of a player carrying a $5.6 million salary cap hit.Once again, Patterson’s biggest contributions in terms of impacting field position came on special teams. Overall, he ran back 19 kicks during his 16 games last year, for a combined 538 yards and an average of 28.3 yards per return. Just like on offense, his numbers were solid but could not quite live up to the expectations and price tag with which Patterson entered Oakland in free agency.2018 preview: With Patterson scheduled to hit the Raiders’ salary cap with $3.25 million in 2018, the team decided to place him on the trade market. Oakland found a willing trade partner in mid-March: the Patriots, who acquired Patterson and a sixth-round draft pick for a fifth-round selection – a logical move for New England to make after the team lost both their kickoff returner (Dion Lewis) and a rotational wideout (Danny Amendola) in free agency.Given his rather high cap number and the fact that the Patriots paid a relatively modest price to acquire him, Patterson was no lock to make the team when he joined it. Five months later, this outlook has changed quite a bit: while he has yet to flash his talents as a kickoff returner, the 27-year old received plenty of practice reps and preseason playing time at the wide receiver position.All the uncertainties surrounding the position and his solid performance this summer make Patterson a virtual lock to survive roster cuts. And while it remains to be seen how the team ultimately uses him during the regular season, his athleticism and versatility make for an intriguing chess piece for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to use. And even though he will not be the second coming of Randy Moss Limited Duron Harmon Jersey , Patterson should turn out to be a solid pickup. (1.) If the coverage leading into Sunday night feels more like that of a UFC title fight than a primetime football game, it’s not by accident — but it’s also not entirely by choice.A byproduct of the NFL’s incompetence with regard to having its two biggest stars face off twice per decade is that four years of Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady media coverage is needlessly jammed into a single week — or six days in the case of this year’s go-around. It’s almost understandable. With so much time passing between Packers-Patriots contests, very little meat is left on the content-bone. Rosters are thoroughly turned over. Context derived from the teams’ most recent battles isn’t pertinent, making it impossible to establish a chronology of any real substance. Narratives simply aren’t allowed to develop organically. The NFL media machine — aside from a handful of excellent local reporters and analysts — has no choice but to capitalize on the moment. As a result, the Rodgers vs. Brady motif doesn’t just become the ripest and the lowest-hanging of the low-hanging fruit — it becomes the only hanging fruit. Yet, if you give the tree a good shake, you’ll find that the NFL hasn’t just missed out on the opportunity for one or two more duels between historic quarterbacks, but that they’ve has deprived football fans of a showcase between the two most successful organizations from each conference since the turn of the century. It’s true. Since Bill Belichick took the reigns in Foxborough in 2000, the Patriots have been historically good to the point where it renders the accomplishments of other franchises undistinguished. But, over that same span, the Green Bay Packers have been the cream of the crop in the NFC.From 2000 to 2017 Lawrence Guy Jersey , the Packers have an NFC-leading 178 regular season wins, the most playoff trips in the conference (13), as well as the most playoff wins (27). From 2006 — the first year of current head coach Mike McCarthy — through 2017, Green Bay leads the NFC in wins (121), postseason trips (9), playoff games (18), and Conference Championship Game appearances (4). Of course, they also added a Super Bowl in 2010.The Patriots’ totals in these departments between 2000 and 2017 are obviously ridiculous. They led the NFL with:214 regular season wins15 postseason trips37 postseason games12 Conference Championship Game appearances8 Super Bowl trips5 Super Bowl titlesFor the purpose of symmetry, here are those Patriots totals between 2006-2017 (still all league-leading, or course): 151 regular season wins11 postseason trips26 postseason games9 Conference Championship Game appearances5 Super Bowl trips2 Super Bowl titles (tied with the Giants for the most since 2006)(2.) Perhaps the most fascinating components of the Packers’ success are the methods and organizational characteristics that have allowed them to sustain it — elements and approaches that bear a striking resemblance to what Bill Belichick has established in New England.One such characteristic is stability. While there are certainly a countless number of variables, and the causation is likely a bit cyclical Authentic David Andrews Jersey Salute to Service , there is a strong correlation between winning teams and franchises that maintain long stretches of stability at their GM (or primary player personnel decision-maker) position and head coach positions. The 11 organizations to have won a Super Bowl between 2000 and 2017 averaged 169.09 wins over those 18 seasons, and just 4.36 GM-head coach combinations. The other 21 franchises averaged 132.27 wins and 8 GM-head coach combinations.Between 2000 and 2017, no NFC team had fewer such combinations than Green Bay (four), and only three teams in the league had fewer. One of those teams was the Bengals, who haven’t employed a GM in the history of their organization. The other two were Pittsburgh (two combinations), and the Patriots (Belichick).(3.) A tangible approach that each organization has taken towards roster construction has been the organic growth of the middle and upper class of their rosters. Between 2011-2017, no other team in football had more “homegrown” players — ones drafted or signed as UDFAs and developed with the organization — with cap hits that were at or greater than 1% of that year’s league salary cap. The Packers had 96 such cap hits over that 18-season span. The Patriots ranked fifth on that list with 70. The league average was 50.(4.) The number of draft picks since 2000 to be signed to multi-year extensions before or directly after the expiration of their rookie deals:Packers — 35 total, 18 from draft rounds 1-3.Patriots — 26 total, 12 from draft rounds 1-3.One could speculate that the Patriots would’ve been closer in the total number of these “homegrown” middle and upper class players, but they simply didn’t need to re-sign as many due to consistently planning ahead for the departure of players by developing depth through the draft and undrafted free agency. The Patriots have also been the most trade-happy organization in football in since Belichick’s arrival.(5.) With Patriots right guard Shaq Mason ruled out for Sunday’s contest, it marks the first time since his week eight of his rookie season that he hasn’t been active. Mason — who has been active for 54 of his first 56 career regular season games —is one third of a “homegrown” trio on the interior that includes left guard Joe Thuney and center David Andrews. It’s a unit that has been one of the more consistently-underrated in football over the past three seasons. Sunday will be just the third game since the start of 2016 in which all three won’t be on the field together.With the signing of Andrews to a three-year extension last May (a deal that might be among the best values in football) Limited Steve Grogan Jersey , and with Mason inking a deal with $23.5 million guaranteed to keep him in Foxborough through 2023, the Patriots have two legs of their interior trio under contract through 2020. Joe Thuney, who will be eligible to negotiate a contract after the completion of this season, will carry a cap hit of roughly $2.22 million in 2019 after qualifying for the Proven Performance Escalator (PPE) — a provision in the CBA that bumps the fourth year rookie salary of a player drafted after the second round up to the level of that year’s lowest restricted free agency tender. Players can earn the PPE by participating in 35% of offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons, or by participating in 35% of all of those snaps over his first three years. According to overthecap.com, no 2016 draftee how was taken between rounds three and seven has participated in a high percentage of his unit’s snaps. The former NC State standout has participated has a 99.7% three-year average after playing in 99.6% in 2016, 99.5% in 2017, and 100% so far this year.Follow Brian Phillips on Twitter — @BPhillips_SB