The New England Patriots have signed 25-year old offensive guard Donald Thomas.  Thomas didn’t play at all last year for the Lions.  In his first three years in the NFL, Thomas has played in 17 games (13 starts).  This was a nice pickup for the Patriots as they needed more depth on the O-Line due to Dan Koppen’s injury.

32-year old starting center Dan Koppen broke one of his ankles last night.  The Patriots hope that he will be able to return at some point in 2011.  Koppen has played in 121 games (120 starts) in his first 9 years with the Patriots.  For now, the Patriots are going to start Dan Connolly at center.  He has played in 32 games (17 starts) in his first four years with the Patriots.  The Patriots will likely be looking for centers on the free agent market to give them some depth going forward.  This could be a big loss for the Patriots, but I look for them to overcome it.

UPDATE:  (9/13/2011) – The Patriots will be without Dan Koppen for the next 8-10 weeks.

UPDATE:  (9/21/2011) – The Patriots have placed Dan Koppen on the Injured Reserve List ending his season as he also had a fractured fibula along with his fractured ankle.

The New England Patriots have claimed 23-year old LB A.J. Edds off waivers from the Dolphins.  Edds didn’t play at all in his rookie year (2010) due to injury.  Edds played in all 4 preseason games for the Dolphins in which he had 18 tackles and 1 sack.  This move shouldn’t surprise anyone too much as the Patriots open the season against Edds’ old team (the Dolphins).

The Patriots have released 25-year old cornerback Darius Butler.  Butler played in 15 games for the Patriots last year and he had 23 tackles and 6 passes defensed.  He played in 29 games in his two years with the Patriots and he had 58 tackles, 14 passes defensed and 3 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  The Patriots continue to revamp their secondary as they have cut a lot of guys the last week or so.  Only time will tell if those moves were smart or not.

The Patriots have signed 26-year old TE Dan Gronkowski.  Gronkowski’s brother (Rob) already plays for the Patriots.  Dan Gronkowski played in 12 games (4 starts) for the Broncos last year and he caught 8 passes for 65 yards (8.1 avg).  He has now played in 14 games (4 starts) in his first two years in the NFL and he has caught 9 passes for 69 yards (7.7 avg).  Dan Gronkowski will be used mostly on running plays for the Patriots.

The Patriots have placed 24-year old DE Brandon Deaderick (shoulder), DT Ron Brace (elbow) and 35-year old RB Kevin Faulk (recovering from a torn ACL) on the PUP list.  That means they will each miss at least the first six games of the 2011 season.  Deaderick played in 10 games as a rookie for the Patriots last year and he had 10 tackles and 2 sacks.  Brace played in 13 games for the Patriots last year and he had 23 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss.  Kevin Faulk played in only 2 games for the Patriots last year and he carried the ball 8 times for 45 yards (5.6 ypc).  He also caught 6 passes for 62 yards (10.3 avg) for the Patriots last year.  The Patriots will miss all of these guys while they are out of action.  Although the Patriots have reloaded at RB, there is always a place for Kevin Faulk, who makes big plays when it really counts.

The Patriots have signed 23-year old undrafted rookie long snapper Danny Aiken.  Aiken played in all four preseason games for the Bills, but they were already set at his position.  He will step right into the starting lineup for the Patriots, so he’s going to be under pressure from Day #1.

The Patriots have signed 34-year old OG Brian Waters.  Waters played in 16 games (all starts) for the Chiefs last year.  He has now played in 163 games (149 starts) in his first 11 years in the NFL.  Waters is known as a nasty run blocker and the Patriots were giddy to find him still available on the free agent market.  This was an outstanding signing for the Patriots.

The Patriots have placed 25-year old OG Rich Ohrnberger on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a head injury.  Ohrnberger played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Patriots last year.  He has now played in 5 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Patriots.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Patriots, as Ohrnberger hasn’t shown too much in his first couple years on the job.

The Patriots have released 25-year old DT Landon Cohen.  Cohen played in 4 games for the Jaguars and Patriots last year and he had 4 tackles.  He has played in 24 games in his first 3 years in the NFL and he has 30 tackles and 5 tackles for a loss.  The Patriots won’t miss Cohen at all either this year or down the road.