FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced that they have released DT Isaac Sopoaga and OL Markus Zusevics.
Sopoaga, 32, is a veteran of 10 NFL seasons, including the second half of 2013 with the New England Patriots after being acquired from Philadelphia in a midseason trade on Oct. 29, 2013. The 6-foot-2, 330-pounder was signed by Philadelphia as an unrestricted free agent from the San Francisco 49ers on March 12, 2013.
Sopoaga played in six games with two starts for New England last year and was inactive for the final two regular-season contests and both playoff games. He registered two tackles, one sack and one pass defensed playing for the Patriots.
Sopoaga originally entered the NFL as a fourth-round (104th pick overall) draft pick by San Francisco in 2004 out of Hawaii. He has played in 139 NFL games with 88 starts at both defensive tackle and nose tackle during his career and has 467 total tackles, 8½ sacks, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He has also played in five postseason games with three starts with 17 total tackles and one sack. Sopoaga also has one NFL reception when he caught an 18-yard pass from QB Alex Smith to convert a third down to set up a 49ers field goal vs. Cleveland on Oct. 30, 2011.
Zusevics, 24, was originally signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent out of Iowa on May 10, 2012. The 6-foot-5, 300-pounder, was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list on Aug. 27, 2012, and activated to the 53-man roster on Nov. 22, 2012. He was inactive for five of the final 2012 regular-season games and both playoff contests. Zusevics spent the 2013 season on injured reserve after suffering an injury during training camp.
