FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots traded OL Russ Hochstein to the Denver Broncos for an undisclosed draft choice today. In addition, the Patriots signed third-round draft pick LB Tyrone McKenzie and released S Tank Williams.
Hochstein, 6-4, 305 pounds, was originally a fifth-round draft pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Nebraska in 2001. He joined the New England practice squad early in 2002 before being signed to the 53-man roster. Hochstein spent the last seven seasons with the Patriots and appeared in 91 games with 20 starting assignments. A versatile contributor, Hochstein started nine games at guard, 8 games at center, two games at fullback and one game at tight end.
McKenize, 6-2, 240 pounds, was drafted by the Patriots in the third round (97th overall) out of South Florida. McKenize played in 49 games with 36 starts during his collegiate career at Michigan State, Iowa State and South Florida. He played in 11 games at Michigan State as a true freshman in 2004 before transferring to Iowa State in 2005. After playing for Iowa State in 2006, he transfered to South Florida for his final two collegiate seasons.
Williams, 6-2, 223 pounds, was signed by the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent from Minnesota in 2008. He originally entered the NFL as a second-round draft pick by Tennessee out of Stanford in 2002. After a four-year career with the Titans, Williams spent two seasons with Minnesota before joining the Patriots. Williams missed the entire 2008 season with a knee injury suffered in the preseason-opener. During his seven NFL seasons, Williams has started 59 of 70 games and has 303 total tackles and five interceptions.
