FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots have informed defensive end Kony Ealy, a standout in Super Bowl 50 who had been acquired in a March trade, that he is being waived, a league source confirmed.

In March, the Patriots had acquired Ealy and a third-round draft choice (No. 72) from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a second-round pick (No. 64). For an eight-spot slide down the draft board, the Patriots hoped that Ealy -- who had fallen out of favor in Carolina -- could recapture the form that made him a Super Bowl 50 standout with three sacks.

But it didn't work out, as the 6-foot-4, 275-pound Ealy couldn't find a fit in the Patriots' scheme. The tipping point might have come early in the fourth quarter of Friday night's 30-28 preseason win over the Detroit Lions when Ealy lost containment on back-to-back plays.

"I just think it's one of those things that didn't work out or wasn't going to work out," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "Nobody's fault. He [Ealy] worked hard. We worked hard. A lot of effort put in, but in the end, we didn't feel like this was going to work out. It gives him an opportunity about a week ahead of next week to hopefully create a better opportunity for himself. I think he deserved that. He did everything we asked him to do. It just didn't work out for either one of us like we hoped it would."

Ealy didn't enter the game until 12:57 was remaining in the third quarter, which was another ominous sign in his fight for a roster spot. His best success in the Patriots' scheme in the preseason came as an interior pass-rusher.

Kony Ealy ultimately couldn't find a fit in Belichick's personnel plans. Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire

In a pregame interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub on Friday, coach Bill Belichick said, "Kony has gotten better every week. Jacksonville week was his best week. Then last week against Houston was a little better. This week has been a little bit better. So each of the last three weeks, he's definitely on the upswing."

But it turned out to be too big of a gap for Ealy to close. He had been held out of the final stretch of practices in the spring practices as part of a coach's decision, and also missed the first day of training camp for the same reason. "You'd have to ask Coach Bill [Belichick] -- me and him had something going on," Ealy explained at the time.

Ealy, who played in college at Missouri, entered the NFL with Carolina as a second-round draft choice in 2014.