FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced that they have re-signed OL James Ferentz. To make room for him on the 53-man roster, New England has released C Russell Bodine. Ferentz was released by the Patriots on August 31.
Ferentz, 30, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Houston Texans out of Iowa in 2014. The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder has appeared in 23 regular-season games and one postseason contest over his five-year career with Houston (2014), Denver (2015-16) and New England (2017-18). Ferentz spent the 2017 season on the Patriots practice squad. Last year he started the season on the practice squad and joined the 53-man roster midseason. Ferentz appeared in two regular-season games as a reserve and was inactive for the final six games of the regular season and all three postseason contests.
Bodine, 27, was acquired by New England in a trade with Buffalo on Aug. 31, 2019. The 6-foot-3, 308-pounder is a veteran of five NFL seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals (2014-17) and the Buffalo Bills (2018). Bodine originally entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick (111th overall) by Cincinnati out of North Carolina in the 2014 NFL Draft. After four seasons with the Bengals, Bodine signed with Buffalo as an unrestricted free agent on March 19, 2018. He has started 74 career games at center in the regular season and two postseason games. Last season, he started all 10 games that he played in at center before finishing the season on injured reserve.
