FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots signed veteran free agent defensive lineman Eddie Freeman and first-year free agent wide receiver Kelvin Kight today. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. Freeman will wear number 62 and Kight will wear number 2. Additionally, the Patriots announced that long snapper Lonie Paxton has been activated from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and wide receiver Michael McGrew has been placed on the reserve/left camp list.
Freeman, 28, appeared in 20 games for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2002-03 and played in the NFL Europe League during its 2005 and 2006 seasons. The 6-foot-5-inch, 310-pound defensive lineman has recorded 39 tackles (17 solo) and 4.0 sacks for 27.0 yards in his NFL career. This spring, the Alabama-Birmingham product was allocated to NFL Europe by the Kansas City Chiefs and recorded 25 tackles for the Cologne Centurions. In the spring of 2005, he was allocated to NFL Europe by the Carolina Panthers and recorded 28 tackles, including 2.5 sacks, for the Rhein Fire. Freeman was originally drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft. As a rookie in 2002, he played in 15 games for the Chiefs and tallied 31 tackles, including 4.0 sacks. In 2003, he played in five games for Kansas City and was listed among the day-of-game inactives for the remaining 11 contests. Freeman was released by the Chiefs following their 2004 training camp and spent a week with the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2004 season but did not appear in a game. The Mobile, Ala. native was signed by the Carolina Panthers on Jan. 27, 2005, and was released by Carolina following their 2005 training camp. He was re-signed by the Chiefs on Jan. 11, 2006 and was released by Kansas City on May 31, 2006.
Kight, 24, played in one game for the Green Bay Packers in 2004 and was originally signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent on April 30, 2004. The 6-foot, 213-pound wide receiver has played in one career NFL contest and did not record any statistics. Kight was waived by the Rams on Aug. 10, 2004 and was signed to the Green Bay Packers practice squad on Sept. 6, 2004. He was signed to the Packers' active roster from the practice squad and played in one game and was listed as a day-of-game inactive for three games before being placed on injured reserve on Dec. 14, 2004. He was waived by the Packers on June 14, 2005 and claimed off waivers by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was with the Jaguars for their 2005 training camp and was released in the final preseason roster cutdown on Sept. 4, 2005. Kight spent most of this past offseason with Minnesota after signing with the Vikings on Jan. 26, 2006. He was released by Minnesota on July 26, 2006.
