FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced that they have re-signed unrestricted free agent DL Alan Branch and restricted free agent OL Cameron Fleming. Terms of the contracts were not announced.
Branch, 32, originally was signed by the Patriots on Oct. 29, 2014. The 6-foot-6, 350-pounder, has played in 39 games with 33 starts for the Patriots over the last three seasons and has accumulated 96 total tackles, 2 1/2 sacks, six passes defensed and three forced fumbles. He has also started in eight postseason games with five starts and accumulated 27 total tackles, 1 1/2 sacks and one fumble recovery.
Branch is a veteran of 10 NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals (2007-10), Seattle Seahawks (2011-12), Buffalo Bills (2013) and Patriots (2014-present). Branch entered the NFL as a second-round draft pick (33rd overall) out of Michigan by Arizona in the 2007 NFL Draft. He joined Seattle as an unrestricted free agent in 2011 and Buffalo as an unrestricted free agent in 2013. He went to training camp with Buffalo in 2014 but was released on Aug. 24.
Fleming, 24, originally joined the Patriots as a fourth-round draft pick (140th overall) in 2014 out of Stanford. The 6-foot-6, 320-pounder, was released by the Patriots on Sept. 6, 2015, and signed to the practice squad on Sept. 8, 2015 before being re-signed to the 53-man roster on Oct. 17, 2015. He has played in 35 regular season games with 14 starts and five postseason games with one start, including action in New England's Super Bowl XLIX and LI wins. Last season, Fleming played in 16 games with five starts and as a reserve in all three postseason games.
