FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced that they have signed first-year OL Luke Patterson and rookie OL Brice Schwab. Terms of the contracts were not announced.
In addition, the Patriots released rookie DL Travis Chappelear, who was signed by the team yesterday, and rookie LS Mike Zupancic.
Patterson, 25, was originally signed by Kansas City as rookie free agent out of Texas A&M on July 27, 2011. The 6-foot-4, 295-pounder, spent parts of the last two seasons on the Chiefs' practice squad. Patterson was a defensive lineman during his college career.
Schwab, 23, was originally signed by Tampa Bay as a rookie free agent on April 29, 2013, and was released by the Buccaneers on July 31, 2013. The 6-foot-7, 302-pounder, began his college career at Palomar Community College in 2009 before transferring to Arizona State in 2010. He started in 17 of 22 games that he played as a Sun Devil at right tackle.
Chappelear, 24, was originally signed by Cincinnati as a rookie free agent on April 30, 2013, out of Northwest Missouri State but was released by the Bengals on May 13, 2013. The 6-foot-5, 263-pounder, began his college career at Missouri Valley College and then at Missouri State for two seasons. After sitting out the 2010 season, he walked on at Northwest Missouri State for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Last year, he registered 63 total tackles, 1½ sacks and two blocked kicks.
Zupancic, 23, originally joined New England as a rookie free agent out of Eastern Michigan on May 3, 2013. The 6-foot-5, 260-pounder, earned three letters as the team's long snapper.