The New England Patriots are releasing tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, ESPN’s Field Yates reported Tuesday.
Seferian-Jenkins signed a one-year deal in April and was expected to compete for a role after the offseason retirement of star Rob Gronkowski.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Seferian-Jenkins is dealing with personal issues that will take him at least a month to resolve.
Seferian-Jenkins wasn’t at the Patriots’ mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, not so surprising after coach Bill Belichick said all the players required to show were in attendance.
It is possible that New England will consider bringing him back in July prior to training camp.
Seferian-Jenkins, 26, has caught 116 passes for 1,160 yards and 11 touchdowns in 43 games over five NFL seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014-16), New York Jets (2016-17) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2018). He was the Bucs’ second-round pick in 2014.
His best season came with the Jets in 2017 when he had career bests of 50 receptions and 357 yards.