The Patriots have signed 35-year old WR David Patten to a 1-year deal.  Patten did not play last season.  He has played in 147 games in his NFL career and he has caught 324 passes for 4,715 yards (14.6 avg) with 24 TD grabs.  Patten played from 2001-2004 with the Patriots.  In those 4 years, Patten played in 54 games in which he caught 165 passes for 2,513 yards (15.2 avg) with 16 TD grabs.  Patten appears to be in the twilight of his career but I don’t see any problem in the Patriots giving him another chance.

The Patriots have slapped the franchise tag on 28-year old nose tackle Vince Wilfork guaranteeing him $7.003 million bucks for 2010.  Wilfork played in 13 games for the Patriots last season and he finished up with 43 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 2 passes defensed.  He has now played in 90 games in his six years with the Patriots and he has 303 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 10 passes defensed.  Wilfork is one of the best interior linemen in the NFL and the Patriots were smart to keep him for 2010.

UPDATE:  The Patriots have signed Wilfork to a 5-year, $40 million dollar deal with $25 million bucks of it guaranteed.

28-year old WR Wes Welker is Tom Brady’s safety net.  Welker tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee in the regular season finale against the Texans.  Brady looked lost without him in the playoff game against the Ravens.  Welker played in 14 games for the Patriots last season and he caught 123 passes for 1,348 yards (11.0 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 36 yards (7.2 avg) last year.  Welker also helped out on special teams for the Patriots last season as he returned 27 punts for 338 yards (12.5 avg) and 2 kickoffs for 45 yards (22.5 avg).  Welker has been on fire since he came to the Patriots three years ago.  He has played in 46 games for the Patriots in his career and he has caught 346 passes for 3,688 yards (10.7 avg) with 15 TD grabs.  Welker also has carried the ball 12 times for 96 yards (8.0 ypc) for the Patriots.  Welker has returned 76 punts for 824 yards (10.8 avg) and he has also returned 10 kickoffs for 247 yards (24.7 avg) in his time in New England.  Welker is basically the one player the Patriots can not afford to be without so they hope he is healthy and ready to go for the 2010 season.

The Patriots came into last April’s Draft looking for help on the offensive line, defense and special teams and they found players who contributed in all of those roles.  The first pick for the Patriots last April was safety Patrick Chung (2nd round, #34 overall) out of Oregon.  He played in all 16 games for the Patriots last season and he finished up with 37 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 2 sacks and 1 interception.  Chung could develop into a starter down the road for the Patriots.  NT Ron Brace was also taken in the 2nd round (#40 overall) by the Patriots last April out of Boston College.  He played in 9 games making only 8 tackles for the Patriots.  CB Darius Butler (2nd round, #41 overall) out of Connecticut was a nice find for the Patriots last season.  He played in 14 games making 35 tackles, defensing 8 passes and he had 3 interceptions (91 yards of returns ) with a TD.  Butler also returned 5 kickoffs for 104 yards (20.8 avg) last season.  OT Sebastian Vollmer (2nd round, #58 overall) out of Houston was considered a reach by most for the Patriots but he looked solid last season playing in 14 games (8 starts).  He 6′8″, 315 pound Vollmer could still add more weight to his very tall frame.  WR/KR Brandon Tate (3rd round, #83 overall) out of North Carolina slipped in the draft because of off the field concerns.  He played in 2 games and he carried the ball 1 time for 11 yards.  He also returned 4 kickoffs for 106 yards (26.5 avg) last season.  He missed most of his rookie season due to injury but he has a nice upside if he can just remain healthy.  Linebacker Tyrone McKenzie (3rd round, #97) out of South Florida got hurt before the year started and spent his rookie year on I.R.  Guard Rich Ohrnberger (4th round, #123 overall) out of Penn State didn’t show much as a rookie playing in 3 games (0 starts).  OT George Bussey (5th round, #170 overall) out of Louisville spend his rookie season on I.R.  Long snapper Jake Ingram (6th round, #198 overall) out of Hawaii played in ever game for the Patriots last season and he did a solid job.  DT Myron Pryor (6th round, #207 overall) out of Kentucky was pretty solid for the Patriots.  He played in 13 games in which he made 20 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and he forced 1 fumble.  WR/KR/PR Julian Edelman (7th round, #232 overall) was a QB at Kent State.  He was like a poor man’s Wes Welker as a rookie last season.  He played in 11 games for the Patriots and he caught 37 passes for 359 yards (9.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He also returned 11 kickoffs for 241 yards (21.9 avg) and 6 punts for 63 yards (10.5 avg).  He has a nice upside as he is tough as nails.  DT Darryl Richard didn’t make the team.  He was a 7th round pick (#234 overall) out of Georgia Tech. 

GRADE FOR 2009:  C

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  B