Kendrick Bourne made the Patriots' 53-man roster on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he reportedly requested to be released by New England.

The team has granted that request, releasing Bourne Wednesday afternoon.

Teams had expressed interested in trading for Bourne, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, and ESPN's Adam Schefter added that the Vikings inquired about Bourne before working out a deal with the Panthers to bring back Adam Thielen. ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss is also reporting the Patriots kept Bourne with the intentions of trading him, but the trade talks didn't go anywhere and New England opted to release him instead.

The Patriots basically burned a roster spot to try and trade Bourne, who didn't want to remain in New England. Now Bourne will get to pick his next team, while the Patriots get nothing in return. The San Francisco 49ers, whom Bourne spent the first four years of his NFL career with, are expected to show interest in reuniting with the 30-year-old.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the team accommodating players that request to be released ahead of Wednesday's practice, but pushed back at any players doing that this year. 

"That's news to me," he said of Bourne's request. "I mean, I think that we just, again, try to put the roster together. I guess when it doesn't work out, you break up with somebody, your girlfriend doesn't want to be with you, and then you say, 'Well, I don't want to be with you either.' I'm not going to get into all that."

Vrabel then cut off a follow-up question on the matter.

"We're not going to go back and forth here," said Vrabel. "We're trying to build a roster. You've got to move on from some guys. You make connections with guys, you coach them, they earn opportunities, they get more opportunities, they take advantage of them and that's kind of how these things go."

Bourne spent the last four seasons with the Patriots after initially joining the team through free agency in 2021. He had a strong first season in New England with a career-high 55 receptions, 800 yards, and eight touchdowns over his first 17 games, but injuries hampered the rest of his New England career.

Bourne played just 20 games over the last two seasons, and hasn't practice since Aug. 2 after he suffered a foot injury in the Patriots' in-stadium practice. He had two more years left on the three-year, $19.5 million extension he signed ahead of the 2024 season.