Patriots Sign Veteran Safety, Have One Open Spot On 90-Man Roster

The New England Patriots decided to sign a veteran safety to fill up their roster. The team has added enough depth to the secondary and head coach Bill Belichick will soon make a few more moves.

Adam Schefter from ESPN reported that the Patriots have signed free agent veteran safety Adrian Colbert. Schefter got the information from his agent Drew Rosenhaus. We don’t have any additional information about the details of this contract.

Colbert has already played under former Patriots assistants in the final two years. He worked with Joe Judge and the New York Giants in 2020. Colbert was part of the Miami Dolphins in 2019, and worked with Brian Flores. The veteran spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. The team selected him in the seventh round out of Miami. NFL fans remember that Colbert also spent time with the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs.

Patriots sign veteran for the win

The 27-year-old appeared in 14 games with six starts for San Francisco in his rookie campaign. However, Colbert hasn’t played in more than seven games in any of the last three years. In 2020, he was limited to six games for the Giants.

Colbert has seen most of his snaps at deep safety. New England lacked depth at the spot behind veteran Devin McCourty.

San Francisco nicknamed Colbert “The Punisher” for his tough style.

“It’s my thing,” he told reporters in 2017, via The Athletic. “It’s me. I’m not just coming in to make a normal tackle. I’m not trying to just get you down. Trying to punish you. I’m trying to impose my will on you. I’m trying to make people scared to come over the middle of the field.”

New England signed Colbert to complete the roster. Fullback Jakob Johnson received the International Pathway exemption and doesn’t have a spot on the 90-man roster. The Patriots will have another spot once Patrick Chung officializes his retirement.

The Patriots are in Phase 2 of the offseason program. Players will begin organized team activities next week.