FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced that they claimed TE Martellus Bennett off waivers from Green Bay. Bennett was released by Green Bay on Nov. 8, 2017 after playing in seven games and finishing with 24 receptions for 233 yards.
In addition, the Patriots released DL Geneo Grissom, and signed OL Anthony Fabiano to the practice squad and released WR Jake Kumerow from the practice squad.
Bennett, 30, spent the 2016 season with New England after being acquired in a trade with Chicago in exchange for a 2016 fourth round draft pick on March 17, 2016. Last season with the Patriots, he played in all 16 games with 12 starts and finished with 55 receptions for 701 yards with seven touchdowns in the regular season. He also started all three postseason games, including Super Bowl LI, and added 11 receptions for 98 yards.
Bennett has played with the Dallas Cowboys (2008-11), New York Giants (2012), Chicago Bears (2013-15), New England (2016) and Green Bay (2017). The 6-foot-6, 275-pounder, originally entered the NFL as a second round draft pick (61st overall) out of Texas A&M by Dallas in the 2008 NFL Draft. He was signed by the New York Giants as an unrestricted free agent on March 14, 2012, and by Chicago as an unrestricted free agent on March 12, 2013. Bennett signed with Green Bay as an unrestricted free agent on March 10, 2017.
Bennett has played in 142 games with 107 starts and has registered 427 receptions for 4,520 yards with 30 touchdowns. Bennett's best statistical season was in 2014 with Chicago when he was named to the Pro Bowl after finishing with 90 receptions for 916 yards and six touchdowns.
A look back at the best photos of tight end Martellus Bennett from the New England Patriots 2016 season.
Grissom, 25, was drafted by the Patriots in the third round (97th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma. The 6-foot-4, 265-pounder began the 2017 season on the practice squad before being signed to the 53-man roster on Sept. 22, 2017. He has appeared in 29 games as a reserve over the last three seasons and registered six tackles on defense and six special teams tackles.
Fabiano, 24, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Baltimore Ravens out of Harvard on May 6, 2016. The 6-foot-1, 303-pounder, was released by the Ravens at the end of training camp last season and had two separate stints on the Cleveland Browns practice squad before being added to the 53-man roster on Dec. 5, 2016. The Wakefield, Mass., native appeared in the final four regular season games with one start at center in the finale at Pittsburgh. Fabiano went to training camp with Cleveland this year and was released prior to the start of the regular season. Since then he has had stints on the Washington Redskins and N.Y. Giants practice squads.
Kumerow, 25, was signed by the New England Patriots to the practice squad on Oct. 26, 2017. The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder, spent the last two seasons (2015-16) on the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad after he originally joined the team as a rookie free agent out of Wisconsin-Whitewater on May 8, 2015. Kumerow was signed to the Cincinnati 53-man roster from the practice squad prior to the final game of the 2016 season and was inactive. He was released by Cincinnati on Sept. 22, 2017.
