The Patriots announced on Wednesday that they released veteran corner Leonard Johnson. Acquired by the Patriots in early December after being released off of Tampa Bay's injured reserve list, Johnson played in four regular-season games for the Patriots and started three. In that time, he made seven tackles and broke up three passes. He did not see action in either of the team's postseason games.
Johnson arrived to the Patriots when they were wafer thin at corner. Beyond Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan, the only other corner on the roster at the time was rookie Justin Coleman, who dealt with nagging injuries over the course of his rookie season.
In Johnson's first game with the Patriots, a Week 14 win over the Texans, he started and played 43 of a possible 55 snaps, playing as the team's nickel corner. He was targeted three times in the game and allowed one catch for -1 yard. He broke up the other two passes sent his way, including one that came on fourth down.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick later highlighted the play in his Belichick Breakdown segment on Patriots.com, and host Scott Zolak pointed out Johnson's celebratory dance after the fact.
"We'll have to see," Belichick said, "if we can slow that down a little bit."
Unfortunately for Johnson, that game in Houston was his best performance with the Patriots. In Weeks 16 and 17, losses to the Jets and Dolphins, he allowed a total of 11 catches for 139 yards. By the time the postseason arrived, Coleman was healthy enough to take over the team's nickel corner role.
Johnson was scheduled to make $760,000 in 2016, and his release clears up $235,000 in salary-cap space. With the move, the Patriots have about $13.3 million in cap space.