FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced that they signed DL Geneo Grissom and WR Bernard Reedy to the 53-man roster from the practice squad and released DL Ricky Jean Francois and OL Jason King from the 53-man roster. Additionally, the Patriots signed DL Marcus Hardison to the practice squad.
Grissom, 25, was signed by New England to the practice squad on Nov. 11, 2017, after being released from the 53-man roster on November 9. The 6-foot-4, 265-pounder was originally drafted by the Patriots in the third round (97th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma. Grissom 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.
Reedy, 26, was signed by New England to the practice squad on Nov. 22, 2017. The 5-foot-9, 175-pounder played in nine games this season for Tampa Bay and caught two passes for 21 yards and accrued 17 yards on three rushing attempts before being released on November 17. Reedy originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Atlanta Falcons on May 12, 2014, out of Toledo. He spent his rookie season on the Atlanta practice squad and was released at the end of training camp on Sept. 2, 2015. Reedy signed with Tampa Bay on Feb. 5, 2016, and was released prior to the start of the regular season on Sept. 7, 2016. He signed with the Tampa Bay practice squad on Dec. 6, 2016, and was added to the 53-man roster on Dec. 21, 2016. He was inactive for the final two games of the regular season that year.
Jean Francois, 31, was signed by New England to the 53-man roster on Nov. 7, 2017. The 6-foot-3, 313-pounder appeared in three games as a reserve for the Patriots and made three tackles. Jean Francois played in six games this season for Green Bay before being released on Nov. 1, 2017. He has played for San Francisco (2009-12), Indianapolis (2013-14), Washington (2015-16) and Green Bay (2017). He originally entered the NFL as a seventh round draft pick (244th overall) by San Francisco out of Louisiana State in the 2009 NFL Draft. After four seasons with the 49ers, he joined Indianapolis as an unrestricted free agent in 2015. After being released by the Colts, he signed with Washington in February of 2015 and played with the Redskins for two seasons before being signed by Green Bay as an unrestricted free agent on March 23, 2017.
King, 24, was signed to the 53-man roster on Nov. 28, 2017. The 6-foot-4, 310-pounder was originally signed by the New England Patriots as a rookie free agent from Purdue on May 5, 2017. King went through training camp with the team and was released prior to the start of the regular season. He was signed by New England to the practice squad on September 20, and released on October 9, before joining the Ravens practice squad on October 31. He was released on November 14.
Hardison, 25, was most recently a member of the Jacksonville practice squad from Sept. 20, 2017 until being released on November 20. The 6-foot-3, 310-pounder originally entered the NFL as a fourth round draft pick (135th overall) by Cincinnati in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Arizona State. Hardison was inactive for all Bengals games as a rookie and spent his second season in 2016 on Injured Reserve after suffering an injury in the preseason. He went to training camp with the Bengals this year and was released prior to the start of the regular season.
