New England Patriots

Amendola is considered a "lock" for the final roster ahead of the 2017 campaign, ESPN's Mike Reiss reports.

In May, Reiss reported that Amendola could be in danger of losing his roster spot. It isn't clear what may have changed, but it seems as if the 31-year-old receiver re-established himself during the offseason program. The Patriots are only expected to keep six receivers, so if Reiss is right, then Amendola would have secured the No. 6 and final spot on the depth chart.

Burkhead is less likely than fellow free-agent acquisition Mike Gillislee to help fill the void created by LeGarrette Blount's departure, ESPN.com's Mike Reiss reports.

It seemed Burkhead might be headed for big things when the Patriots signed him to a one-year, $3.15 million contract in March, but the team then added Gillislee on a two-year, $6.4 million contract a month later, further bolstering a backfield that already had James White and Dion Lewis (hamstring). While Burkhead did average 4.6 yards on his 74 carries last season, he mostly made his mark as a special teams player and pass blocker during his four seasons in Cincinnati. Given that Gillislee averaged 5.7 yards and scored eight touchdowns on 101 carries with the Bills last season, the former Bengal may find himself with a role not all that different from the one he had with his old team. The size of the contract does suggest that the Patriots at least have plans to occasionally involve Burkhead in the offense.

Gillislee appears to be the Patriots' running back most likely to fill the void created by the departure of LeGarrette Blount, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss.

The Patriots have some depth at running back, with James White and Dion Lewis set to reprise their change-of-pace duties and fellow newcomer Rex Burkhead bringing valuable versatility to the mix. From a fantasy perspective, week-to-week touches out of the team's backfield could be difficult to predict and game-flow dependent, but we suspect that Blount's goal-line duties are likely to be absorbed primarily by Gillislee. Considering Blount's league-leading 18 rushing TDs last season, Gillislee is in a good position to better the mark of nine total scores he logged in 2016 while with the Bills. In the process, he averaged 5.7 yards over 101 carries, a rate that he also recorded on 47 rushing attempts in 2015.