Relatively speaking, the New England Patriots made two fairly significant roster moves Thursday afternoon.

And we say relatively speaking, because there’s really a ceiling on how noteworthy a transaction that takes place in late May can be, but New England signed tight end Anthony Firkser and placed linebacker Raekwon McMillan on injured reserve. McMillan’s season is over unless he and the Patriots can reach an injury settlement.

But Firkser is a tight end with a real shot at making the Patriots’ 53-man roster in September.

So, how does that move impact decisions New England must make months from now when they’re trimming down their 90-man roster to 53 players?

In the Patriots 53-man roster projection we posted earlier this month, we had New England keeping just two tight ends: Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki, leaving off Matt Sokol, Scotty Washington and undrafted rookie Johnny Lumpkin with this note:

“It's a little bit odd that New England hasn't done more to address tight end depth, but we're not about to put Lumpkin, Sokol or Washington on the team.”

Firkser is that tight end depth. And the move to sign him increases the chances that New England will keep three tight ends to start the 2023 season, and it decreases the chances that Sokol, Washington or Lumpkin will make the team.

Firkser is undersized at 6-foot-2, 241 pounds, and he’s not a blocking tight end, per se, but he is a tight end with experience blocking. He’s always spent more time combined in the slot and split out wide than he has inline as a traditional tight end. And he’ll serve as insurance for Henry and Gesicki.

It is a bit interesting to see the Patriots trade a more traditional blocking tight end in Jonnu Smith this offseason and bring aboard Gesicki and Firker. Gesicki is essentially just a big slot receiver, and it seems the Patriots plan to use him that way. He's still being called a tight end and will meet with the rest of his positional group. But New England won't be asking him to play a traditional blocking role like other tight ends.

Henry and Firkser are better inline options than Gesicki, but a bulk of their work has still come split out wide or into the slot. Henry played 41.5 percent of his snaps inline with the Patriots in 2021. That rate rose to 60.5 percent last season. It was 49.9 percent in 2020, his final season with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Firkser played just 18.9 percent of his snaps inline last season with the Atlanta Falcons. It was slightly higher at 32.4 percent with the Tennessee Titans in 2021.

So, what does that all mean? It could mean the Patriots are putting less emphasis on blocking for their tight ends. They could use an extra offensive lineman on the field in obvious rushing situations over a tight end. And they might simply be looking for more dynamic pass catchers.

Regardless, Firkser is valuable to have in case of injuries to Henry or Gesicki. And we'll see if Lumpkin, Washington or Sokol can push him for a roster spot. The Patriots still could elect to keep just two tight ends. New England only kept two tight ends in O'Brien's last season with the Patriots as offensive coordinator 12 years ago.