The New England Patriots’ preseason win over the Detroit Lions hinted at which players Bill Belichick considers locks for the 53-man roster.

These 18 veteran players are healthy and sat out the Patriots’ first preseason game:

QB Tom Brady

RB Sony Michel

RB James White

FB James Develin

WR/ST Matthew Slater

C David Andrews

OT Marcus Cannon

G Joe Thuney

G Shaq Mason

LB Kyle Van Noy

LB Dont’a Hightower

DE Michael Bennett

DT Lawrence Guy

CB Stephon Gilmore

CB Jason McCourty

CB Jonathan Jones

DB Devin McCourty

SS Patrick Chung

Lock them in for roster spots.

The following two players didn’t play Thursday night because of injuries, but they’re still locks to make the roster.

WR Julian Edelman (non-football injury list; thumb)

OL Isaiah Wynn (Achilles)

Five of the following rookies played Thursday night, but all six should be considered locks based on their draft round.

QB Jarrett Stidham

RB Damien Harris

WR N’Keal Harry

OL Hjalte Froholdt

LB Chase Winovich

CB Joejuan Williams

Harris oddly didn’t play against the Lions. We’ll see if he’s practicing when the Patriots are back at Gillette Stadium on Monday.

The following four players also played Thursday night, but we view them as locks for their special teams abilities.

RB Brandon Bolden

LB Brandon King

K Stephen Gostkowski

LS Joe Cardona

It’s worth noting Bolden and King actually didn’t play on special teams Thursday night. Bolden only played offense, and King only played defense. That tells you all you need to know. They sat out of their typical roles, because they’re making the roster.

These two defenders played Thursday night, but we’re making an exception for them.

LB Ja’Whaun Bentley

CB JC Jackson

Michel was the only second-year player to sit out Thursday night, and we’re guessing that had just as much to do with his injury history as it does his roster-lock status. Bentley isn’t a starter and only played three games last season before going down with a season-ending injury. We’re guessing the Patriots are trying to keep Jackson’s ego in check. He hasn’t been rolling with starters, and he played Thursday night. At least make him think he still needs to earn the roster spot.

So, that’s 32 locks and 21 “open” roster spots. One of those will go to a punter for whoever wins the job out of Ryan Allen and Jake Bailey.

These five players weren’t on the field because of injury. Let’s go through them one by one. We don’t consider any of them locks for the 53-man roster.

RB Rex Burkhead: Burkhead was in uniform but didn’t play. He didn’t practice all week in Detroit and was limited before the Patriots headed to the midwest. Ultimately, we think the Patriots will keep five running backs, but Burkhead’s injury gives us pause at considering him a roster lock. He’s a near-lock.

S Nate Ebner: Ebner is on the physically unable to perform list. The Patriots could free up a roster spot by keeping Ebner on PUP until Week 7. We’ll see if they do that. He’s a near-lock if healthy.

CB Ken Webster: The seventh-round pick also is on PUP. In a crowded cornerback room, Webster should hope to stay on PUP and redshirt this season.

OT Yodny Cajuste: The third-round pick is on the non-football injury list after undergoing quad surgery before the draft. If he’s healthy, he’s a lock. We have yet to see him at all this summer.

WR Demaryius Thomas: The veteran wideout is on the PUP list, as well, after tearing his Achilles in December. It would make sense to keep him on there and bring him back at midseason.

You might be wondering where these 10 players are on our list of roster locks:

QB Brian Hoyer

WR Phillip Dorsett

WR Jakobi Meyers

TE Matt LaCosse

G Ted Karras

DT Adam Butler

OLB John Simon

OLB Jamie Collins

S Terrence Brooks

S Duron Harmon

They all played Thursday night. Let’s call them near-locks.

Tight end Ben Watson is suspended and won’t take up a roster spot through four weeks.

The following players are on the roster bubble:

WR Braxton Berrios

WR Maurice Harris

TE Stephen Anderson

TE Ryan Izzo

TE Lance Kendricks

OL James Ferentz

OL Dan Skipper

DT Byron Cowart

DT David Parry

DT Mike Pennel

DT Danny Shelton

DT Nick Thurman

DE Keionta Davis

DE Ufomba Kamalu

DE Deatrich Wise Jr.

OLB Shilique Calhoun

OLB Trent Harris

OLB Derek Rivers

LB Calvin Munson

LB Elandon Roberts

CB Keion Crossen

CB Duke Dawson

S Obi Melifonwu

P Ryan Allen

P Jake Bailey

We consider these players longshots:

QB Danny Etling

RB Nick Brossette

FB Andrew Beck

FB Jakob Johnson

WR Ryan Davis

WR Dontrelle Inman

WR Gunner Olszewski

WR Damoun Patterson

OL Tyler Gauthier

OL Martez Ivey

OL Cedrick Lang

OL Tyrie St. Louis

LB Terez Hall

LB Christian Sam

CB D’Angelo Ross

S Malik Gant

S A.J. Howard

Our guess at the final 10 players — after the 32 roster locks and 11 near-locks — are Maurice Harris, Izzo, Skipper, Cowart, Pennel, Shelton, Rivers, Roberts, Crossen, Bailey.

The toughest cuts were Berrios, Wise, Calhoun and Melifonwu.

Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images