FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots signed veteran offensive lineman Barry Stokes today. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The Patriots also placed veteran offensive lineman Anthony Clement on the reserve/injured list with a knee injury.
Stokes, 34, has played in 83 career games with 44 starts for the Miami Dolphins (1998), Green Bay Packers (2000-01), Cleveland Browns (2002-03), Atlanta Falcons (2005) and Detroit Lions (2006). He also spent time on the active roster but did not see game action with the Dolphins (1997), Packers (1999), Oakland Raiders (1999) and Lions (2007). He spent the 2004 season on injured reserve with the New York Giants. The 6-foot-4-inch, 310-pound offensive lineman has started at both guard and tackle in his career. Stokes was originally signed by the Lions as a rookie free agent out of Eastern Michigan on April 26, 1996. He spent much of the 1996 season on the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad and began the 1997 season on the St. Louis Rams' practice squad.
Clement, 32, is a veteran of 10 NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals (1998-2004), San Francisco 49ers (2005) and New York Jets (2006-07). The 6-foot-8-inch, 320-pound offensive tackle has played in 128 career games with 107 starts. He started at right tackle for the Jets in every game in each of the last two seasons. He was signed by the Jets as an unrestricted free agent on March 11, 2006 after spending the 2005 season with the 49ers, when he started six of 14 games for San Francisco. Clement spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Cardinals after being selected by Arizona in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft (36th overall) out of Louisiana-Lafayette. Clement was released by the Jets on March 4, 2008.