FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced today that LB Dekoda Watson has been re-signed. Terms of the contract were not announced.
In addition, the Patriots signed LB Eric Martin to the practice squad and released LB Alex Singleton and DL Jimmy Staten from the practice squad.
Watson, 27, was released by the Patriots on Aug. 31, 2015. He was signed by the Patriots as a free agent on May 12, 2015. The 6-foot-2, 245-pounder, has played in 70 NFL games, with seven starts, and has registered 120 tackles, three sacks, one interception, four passes defensed, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries during his five-year NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2010-13), Jacksonville Jaguars (2014) and Dallas Cowboys (2014). Last season, he began the season with Jacksonville and appeared in nine games with one start. He posted nine tackles before being released on Nov. 11, 2014, and signing with Dallas on Nov. 14, 2014. He played in one game for the Cowboys, but did not accrue any statistics. He originally entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick (217th overall) by Tampa Bay in 2010 out of Florida State.
Martin, 24, made the 53-man roster out of training camp and played in the opening game vs. Pittsburgh on Sept. 10 before being released on Sept. 12. He was originally signed to the Patriots practice squad on Dec. 29, 2014 The 6-foot-2, 250-pounder, entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with New Orleans out of Nebraska on April 28, 2013. He was released by New Orleans on Aug. 27, 2013, and was claimed off waivers by Cleveland on Aug. 28, 2013. Over two seasons in Cleveland (2013-14), Martin played in 29 games with one start and registered 14 total tackles.
Singleton, 21, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Seattle on May 2, 2015, out of Montana State. The 6-foot-2, 233-pounder, was released by Seattle on Sept. 5, 2015 and was signed to the New England practice squad on Sept. 9, 2015.
Staten, 24, originally entered the NFL as a fifth-round draft pick (172nd overall) by Seattle out of Middle Tennessee State in 2014. The 6-foot-3, 311-pounder, spent the majority of last season on the Seattle practice squad. He was released by Seattle on Aug. 17, 2015, and claimed off waivers by the New York Giants on Aug. 18. The Giants released him on Sept. 1, 2015, and he was signed to the patriots practice squad on Sept. 7, 2015.
