FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced that they have re-signed RB LeGarrette Blount, who was an unrestricted free agent. Terms of the contract were not announced.
In addition, the Patriots signed exclusive rights free agents DB Justin Coleman and S Brandon King.
Blount was originally acquired by the Patriots from Tampa Bay in a trade on April 27, 2013, in exchange for RB Jeff Demps and a 2013 seventh-round draft selection. He signed with Pittsburgh as an unrestricted free agent on March 28, 2014 and was released by Pittsburgh on Nov. 18 before being re-signed by New England on Nov. 20, 2014. The 6-foot, 250-pounder originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Tennessee out of Oregon. He was released by Tennessee following training camp and claimed off waivers by Tampa Bay. Blount has played in 84 NFL games with 35 starts and has 3,961 yards rushing and 31 touchdowns. Blount ran for 166 yards and set a franchise record with four rushing touchdowns in a postseason game vs. Indianapolis on Jan. 11, 2014. Last season, Blount played in 12 games with six starts and finished with 703 yards on 165 attempts with six touchdowns before suffering an injury and being placed on injured reserve.
Coleman, 23, was signed by New England to the 53-man roster off the Seattle practice squad on Sept. 9, 2015. The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Minnesota Vikings out of Tennessee on May 6, 2015. He was released by Minnesota on Aug. 30, 2015 and was signed by New England on Sept. 4, 2015. The Patriots released Coleman on Sept. 5, and he was signed by Seattle to the practice squad on Sept. 8. Coleman played in 10 regular season games with two starts last season and finished with 21 total tackles and four passes defensed. He played in both postseason games and added seven tackles and two passes defensed.
King, 22, originally joined New England as a rookie free agent out of Auburn on May 8, 2015. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder, began his rookie season on the practice squad before being signed to the 53-man roster on Oct. 20, 2015. King played in 13 regular season games and both postseason games, mainly on special teams. He finished with 12 special teams tackles in the regular season and added three special teams tackles in the postseason.
