![\"Arizona](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/arizona-cardinals-v-seattle-seahawks-seattle-washington-november-24-victor-dimukeje-e1790787893270.j.jpeg\")
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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – NOVEMBER 24: Victor Dimukeje #52 of the Arizona Cardinals covered in blue field paint after nearly deflecting a punt during the second quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on November 24, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The New England Patriots<\/a> needed to adjust their offense around injuries this September.<\/p>\n Now the defensive edge is demanding attention, too.<\/p>\n New England brought in Victor Dimukeje<\/a> and Eric Watts<\/a> for free-agent tryouts Tuesday, ESPN\u2019s Mike Reiss reported<\/a>. Both are defensive ends with NFL<\/a> experience, although their paths to this audition have been different. Reiss reported tryouts, not signings.<\/p>\n The Patriots had the following players in for free-agent tryouts:<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfc8DE Victor Dimukeje (Duke)<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfc8 DE Eric Watts (Connecticut)<\/p>\n Dre\u2019Mont Jones<\/a> missed Sunday\u2019s 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> with a shoulder injury, while rookie Quintayvious Hutchins<\/a> landed on injured reserve with a knee injury.<\/p>\n The Patriots\u2019 roster preview<\/a> listed only three available edge rushers for Jacksonville: Elijah Ponder<\/a>, Gabe Jacas<\/a> and Jose Ramirez<\/a>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a narrow rotation even before accounting for the work required against the run. New England didn\u2019t elevate an edge defender from its practice squad for the Jaguars game, instead leaning on Ponder and Jacas and turning to Ramirez later.<\/p>\n With a trip to the Buffalo Bills<\/a> coming Sunday, the Patriots are looking at more options.<\/p>\n Dimukeje Hands Patriots an Experienced Edge Option<\/p>\n \n Dimukeje has the longer NFL stint of the two visitors.<\/p>\n The Arizona Cardinals<\/a> selected him in the sixth round out of Duke in 2021, and he later spent time with the New York Giants<\/a>. When the San Francisco 49ers<\/a> signed him in August, the club credited him<\/a> with 60 career games, eight starts, four sacks and two forced fumbles.<\/p>\n Those four sacks came in 2023 with Arizona.<\/p>\n Dimukeje\u2019s five appearances for the Giants last season yielded one tackle and one pass breakup, according to San Francisco\u2019s account.<\/p>\n He joined the 49ers in training camp, but they placed him on injured reserve Aug. 27<\/a>.<\/p>\n His appearance at Tuesday\u2019s tryout puts him back in front of a team that could use another body on the edge; it doesn\u2019t establish what role, if any, he would have.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a practical appeal to a veteran who has already played across multiple seasons and handled NFL game-day assignments.<\/p>\n New England\u2019s main question is whether Jones can return and how much it wants to ask of its young rushers if he can\u2019t.<\/p>\n Watts Brings Size and a New England College Connection<\/p>\n \n Watts took a different route.<\/p>\n The 6-foot-5 defender played at UConn before signing with the New York Jets<\/a> as an undrafted free agent in 2024. He made their initial roster that summer, an accomplishment the Jets detailed at the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n He appeared in 14 games as a rookie and four more last season.<\/p>\n Across those 18 appearances, Watts recorded 23 combined tackles and made one start, per official NFL statistics<\/a>. He has yet to record a regular-season sack. His experience still gives New England a player who has spent time on an active roster rather than an untested camp prospect.<\/p>\n His college numbers show a peek of the upside that got him into the league.<\/p>\n Watts led UConn with seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss in 2022, via the Jets\u2019 account<\/a>. He finished his Huskies career with 9.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. The Jets waived him<\/a> with an injury designation in August.<\/p>\n Watts\u2019 size presents a different profile from Dimukeje\u2019s 6-foot-2, 250-pound frame.<\/p>\n Whether either player gets another call will depend on New England\u2019s assessment of the tryouts and the health of its existing group.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDuncan Day<\/a> is a sports contributor for Heavy. He has covered NFL, NBA, hockey and soccer for various outlets, including NBC Sports, Boston.com, USA TODAY, Forbes, Bleacher Report, The Dallas Morning News and more. More about Duncan Day<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – NOVEMBER 24: Victor Dimukeje #52 of the Arizona Cardinals covered in blue field paint…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1014974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":["post-1014973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-england-patriots","tag-football","tag-new-england","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-newengland","tag-newenglandpatriots","tag-nfl","tag-patriots"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117361135372735235","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1014973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1014974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1014973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1014973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1014973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Arizona](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/arizona-cardinals-v-los-angeles-rams-inglewood-california-october-15-victor.jpg\")
GettyINGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA \u2013 OCTOBER 15: Victor Dimukeje #52 of the Arizona Cardinals celebrates a sack during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> at SoFi Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/new-york-jets-v-jacksonville-jaguars-jacksonville-florida-december-15-tank.jpg\")
GettyJACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA \u2013 DECEMBER 15: Tank Bigsby #4 of the Jacksonville Jaguars carries the ball against Eric Watts #58 of the New York Jets during the first quarter at EverBank Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n