The Patriots have signed DT Gerard Warren.  The 31-year old played in all 16 games for the Raiders last season and he had 35 tackles, 2 sacks, he had 3 tackles for a loss and he defensed 1 pass.  Warren has now played in 135 games in his NFL career and he has made 295 tackles, he has defensed 13 passes, has 32 sacks and he has forced 7 fumbles.  Warren will probably backup Vince Wilfork in 2010 giving him a breather once in a while.

The Patriots have picked WR Taylor Price out of Ohio with the 90th overall pick (3rd round) of the NFL Draft.  Price is a big receiver at 6′0″, 201 pounds and he is super fast as he runs a 4.33 40.  He played in 13 games (all starts) last season for Ohio and he caught 52 passes for 735 yards (14.1 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  Price played in 51 games (38 starts) in his four years with Ohio and he caught 145 passes for 1,970 yards (13.6 avg) with 14 TD grabs.  This was a solid pick for the Patriots as Price gives them rare speed at WR.

The Patriots have picked inside linebacker Brandon Spikes with the 62nd overall pick (2nd round) of the NFL Draft.  Spikes is a big guy at 6′3″, 250 pounds and he is the classic middle linebacker as he is a much better run defender than he is against the pass.  Spikes played in 12 games (all starts) for the Gators last season and he finished up with 68 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, he had 3 sacks, broke up 3 passes and he intercepted 2 passes.  He played in 48 games (39 starts) in his four years with Florida and he finished up with 307 tackles, 31.5 tackles for a loss, he had 6.5 sacks, he broke up 14 passes and he had 6 interceptions.  Spikes is a playmaker and I love this pick for the Patriots.

The Patriots have picked DE Jermaine Cunningham from Florida with the 53rd pick (2nd round) in the NFL Draft.  Cunningham is 6′3″, 248 pounds so the Patriots probably are thinking about moving him to OLB.  The problem with that is Cunningham is not a good open field tackler.  That makes him a bit of a tweener.  Cunningham played in 12 games (all starts) for Florida last season and he finished up with 34 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks, he had forced 2 fumbles and he had 1 fumble recovery.  Cunningham played in 45 games (38 starts) in his career at Florida and he finished up with 152 tackles, 34 tackles for a loss, 19.5 sacks, he batted down 7 passes, forced 5 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  The Patriots coaching staff will likely have to coach Cunningham up as they likely picked him a round or two too early.

The Patriots have picked TE Rob Gronkowski out of Arizona with the 42nd overall pick (2nd round) of the NFL Draft.  Gronkowski did not play last season because of a back injury.  He is a big guy at 6′5″, 265 pounds and he is a solid blocker in the running game and he has great hands in the passing game.  Gronkowski put up solid numbers in college despite not playing with good QBs at Arizona.  He played in 22 games (18 starts) at Arizona in his career there and he caught 75 passes for 1,197 yards (16.0 avg) with 16 TD grabs.  Gronkowski will likely be a starter as a rookie because the Patriots have a huge need there.