FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced that they have signed OL Chris Martin and DL Joe Vellano to the practice squad. Martin spent the first three weeks of the 2014 season on the Patriots practice squad. Vellano was released from the 53-man roster on Monday.
In addition, the Patriots released OL Caylin Hauptmann from the practice squad.
Martin, 24, was originally signed by Houston as a rookie free agent out of Central Florida on May 16, 2014. The 6-foot-5, 305-pounder, was released by Houston on May 27 and signed by the Patriots on June 23, 2014. Martin was released on Aug. 30 and signed to the practice squad on Sept. 1 before being released on Sept. 26.
Vellano, 25, originally joined the Patriots as a rookie free agent out of Maryland in 2013. The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder played in 21 games with eight starts for the Patriots and registered 54 total tackles and three sacks. He played in five games in 2014 and had six total tackles and one sack.
Hauptmann, 23, was signed to the Patriots practice squad on Sept. 16, 2014. He originally signed with the Cleveland Browns as a rookie free agent out of Florida International on April 30, 2013. The 6-3, 300-pounder, was released by Cleveland at the end of training camp and was signed to the practice squad. Seattle signed him to the 53-man roster on Sept. 23. Hauptmann was inactive for 10 games and dressed, but did not play in three others and was inactive for all three postseason games. He was released by Seattle on Aug. 30, 2014 and claimed off waivers by Cleveland on Aug. 31, 2014. The Brown released him on Sept. 2, 2014.
