With the understanding that things can change between now and the start of the regular season, here are a few thoughts on what was a whirlwind day for the Patriots and their roster:

•While the big news nationally was the release of Brian Hoyer -- who should have no problems finding suitors in a quarterback-hungry market -- the surprise locally came with the release of Deion Branch. The 33-year-old spent the better part of six seasons with the Patriots, registering 312 receptions for 4,152 yards and 24 touchdowns while in New England. (Branch re-signed with the Patriots in March after catching 51 passes for 702 yards and five touchdowns last season.) His experience in the system, his excellent working relationship with Brady and his tremendous football IQ -- coupled with the release of Donte’ Stallworth and Jabar Gaffney -- certainly seemed to point to Branch’s return for at least one more year. And while he may find his way back, for now, he’s out the door. 

•In that same vein, the decision to keep only four wide receivers -- Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Julian Edelman and Matthew Slater -- means that the Patriots will rely on their tight ends (and to some extent, their running backs) in the passing game more than ever before. It started last season, but now, with the full emergence of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez (as well as the inclusion of Daniel Fells and perhaps Visanthe Shiancoe, if he can ever get healthy), the Patriots passing game will look to the tight ends first and foremost. And in retrospect, I’m not really sure wide receiver depth is that important in this offense. I wrote here a couple of weeks ago that it didn’t matter who was going to be the fourth receiver in the New England offense -- they weren’t going to see the ball that often anyway. With the addition of Brandon Lloyd, the tight ends looking at approximately 90 catches a year and the running backs more of a threat in the passing game under Josh McDaniels, the need for depth at the wide receiver spot was considerably less this year than in previous seasons.

•After three seasons, Hoyer’s time in New England comes to an end. He performed well when called upon, and while he didn’t take any meaningful snaps in the regular season, he was by all accounts a good scout team quarterback who understood what it meant to serve as Tom Brady’s backup. Like Dan Koppen, Hoyer will almost certainly find a job somewhere else. He’s got that implicit endorsement from working with Brady in New England for three seasons -- it’s the sort of thing that looks pretty good on a resume. (We'll have more on new No. 2 Ryan Mallett later this weekend.) It’s worth wondering how much Hoyer’s contract played into the decision to cut him loose. He signed a $1.9 million deal in the offseason, and with something of a surge this preseason from Ryan Mallett, that’s too rich of a payday for a third-string quarterback.

•Dan Koppen started camp on a rough note, but did improve over the course of the summer. However, it’s clear now that the improvement wasn’t enough to save his job. In the end, one of the things that may have sunk Koppen’s chances this year was the fact that he could only play center. At a time where the Patriots treasure offensive line flexibility up front (including Logan Mankins, Dan Connolly, Ryan Wendell and Nick McDonald), Koppen was strictly a one-position guy. However, don’t expect Koppen to call it a career -- he’s a proud individual who doesn’t want to go out with his last play as a pro one where he suffered an injury. He will find a job somewhere, despite the fact that there wasn’t a whole lot of interest in him as a free agent this summer. In the wake of his release, some were beating the Koppen-to-the-Jets drum, mainly out of revenge more than anything else. That will never happen, as he has no chance of beating out New York’s best offensive lineman, center Nick Mangold.

•It would have been a lot of fun to see Jeff Demps on the field this season, but after getting dinged up in the preseason finale, it makes some sense to let him take a redshirt year, learn the system and get acclimated to life in the NFL (although his injury sounds like the kind of thing Al Czervik suffered in the big match against Judge Smails and Dr. Beeper). With Demps on the shelf, it’ll be interesting to see who the Patriots go with when it comes to returning kicks. Danny Woodhead and Julian Edelman (who handled the bulk of the work last season) are the most likely possibilities, while cornerback Devin McCourty and running backs Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley also remain possibilities.

•There weren't as many surprises on the defensive side of the ball. The one area that really stands out for me is safety, where the Patriots have performed a full-on makeover. It’s no surprise based on training camp and the preseason, but they’ll go into the 2012 season without James Ihedigbo, Sergio Brown and Josh Barrett, three guys who played a significant amount of snaps for the Patriots in 2011. (Ihedigbo and Brown were released, while Barrett went on injured reserve.) In their place, New England will go with youngsters Tavon Wilson and Nate Ebner, as well as Steve Gregory. It will be interesting to see how the new group comes together, but already in limited reps, Gregory and Patrick Chung have looked very solid.

•Here are a few practice squad possibilities: Wide receiver Jeremy Ebert, who was the only draft pick let go, showed some positives over the course of the summer, but was unlikely to unseat any of the veterans. A redshirt year seems to make sense for the Northwestern product. Tight end Alex Silvestro is an intriguing prospect who moved from defense to offense, and did some good things. He's another developmental prospect. When healthy, offensive tackle Matt Kopa had a good camp, and could be in the mix if Marcus Cannon falters as the (presumed) backup tackle. And while defensive back Malcolm Williams has limited defensive experience, he has tremendous special teams value. Other possibilities based on what we’ve seen include linebacker Jeff Tarpinian (if he doesn’t get snapped up somewhere else), offensive lineman Darrion Weems and wide receiver Kerry Taylor.