Patriots’ first offseason transactions include lifting Jake Bailey, Jack Jones suspensions

Related: Suspended Jake Bailey and Jack Jones still have a future with the Patriots, says Bill Belichick

The New England Patriots’ offseason is underway, courtesy of a 35-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. One day later, the team made a handful of procedural moves, according to the NFL transactions wire.

The first set of transactions saw the Patriots lift the suspensions of punter Jake Bailey and cornerback Jack Jones. With their season over, they automatically moved off the reserve/suspended list.

Bailey and Jones were both suspended dating back to Dec. 31. While there has been no official word on why the team made those decisions, both appear to be tied to their injury statuses: Bailey (back) and Jones (knee) were placed on injured reserve on Nov. 19 and Dec. 31, respectively.

According to reports, Jones missed some team-mandated rehabilitation appointments. Bailey’s suspension, meanwhile, stems from an apparent disagreement over his ability to come off IR following his return to practice.

Per his agent, however, the reason why he was suspended is lost on Bailey. As a result, a grievance against the Patriots has been filed.

Despite the suspensions, head coach Bill Belichick spoke highly of both players on Monday.

“Both players are talented players that have contributed to the team and I think have a future with the team. At least that’s what I feel at this point,” Belichick said during his end-of-year press conference.

In addition to those two transactions, the Patriots also saw tight end Matt Sokol and linebacker Calvin Munson revert back to the practice squad.

Both were elevated to the game-day roster for New England’s Week 18 contest in Buffalo. Sokol ended up playing six snaps each on offense and special teams; Munson played 14 downs in the kicking game. They moved back to the developmental roster by Monday, which is standard procedure for all elevated players.

However, neither they nor the other 14 players on the final New England practice squad were signed to futures contracts on Monday.