Steelers to Gronk: We're coming for you

Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler had a look over what he had to field against the Patriots on Sept. 10 and didn't see as much as was there in recent years.

Looking across the field at his foe, aside from quarterback Tom Brady, he identified his No. 1 target: tight end Rob Gronkowski. The Patriots are relatively thin at receiver, making Gronk the most dangerous weapon overall in New England's arsenal.

The solution: "constant contact."

"He has success when people don't put their hands on him," Steelers safety Mike Mitchell said of Gronkowski. 

So Butler will direct his pass defenders and tacklers to maul him within the first five years allowed them by the rulebook.

"You just have to jam him up a little bit, mess with his timing," Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier said. "If you mess up their timing, they are really time-oriented. You have to mess up their timing and get in his face with pressure, then I feel we can slow him down a little bit."

Pittsburgh will get the first crack at stopping Brady as he launches his NFL revenge tour after having his former four-game suspension vanquished by federal judge Richard Berman in connection with his very-much alleged and very-little proven involvement in DeflateGate. 

The Steelers' plan to stop Gronkowski has to be supplemented by their plan to stop Brady. If they can't get to the source, their overall effort will prove fruitless. Pittsburgh was 27th overall last season against the pass, permitted 7.8 yards per attempt (the fourth most), and allowed 253 yards per game, better than only five other teams.

Steelers DE wants Tom Brady

For the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers, the resolution of Tom Brady's DeflateGate conundrum could be the difference between a win and a loss in the NFL's regular season opener Sept. 10.

Oddly enough, having Brady on the field that night was the outcome they wanted. 

At least for one of them.

"It wouldn't be better if you beat him," Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said when asked if he preferred suiting up against non-four-time Super Bowl winner Jimmy Garoppolo.

"Our best against their best. 7's [Ben Roethlisberger] gonna be there -- 12's [Brady] gonna be there. So let's join the party."

Without judging too much, it may be safe to presume a party isn't what first-year Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler is expecting. The Pittsburgh defense is not what it has been in recent years, a composite of youth and injury that could use Garoppolo as a punching bag to get themselves confident for the fall.

But now they'll face not merely Tom Brady, but Tom Brady in a considerably vengeful mood.

Whether that anger bodes well for Heyward and the Steelers, the entire nation will find out together as the Patriots mount their title defense in pursuit of their fifth Super Bowl in six days.

Steelers defense will face Brady, not Garoppolo

The man most pleased by the erasure of Tom Brady's four-game suspension is Tom Brady. The man most displeased by it is Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler.

It'll be his retooled and refigured stoppers that will face not Jimmy Garoppolo on Sept. 10 when the NFL regular season begins, but the four-time Super Bowl champion (and considerably vengeful signal caller) Tom Brady.

Pittsburgh is making a major transition on the defensive side of the football after they parted ways with long-time coach Dick LeBeau this winter, and the results as of yet have not been pleasing to the eye.

A steel curtain, they have yet to be.

In the combined first halves of four exhibition contests, opposing quarterbacks have completed passes at a rate of 80 percent, have thrown four touchdowns, failed to complete even one interception, and compiled a 122.3 quarterback rating in the process.

Buffalo gained 542 yards against this group last weekend while gashing them for 20 or more yards on seven plays from scrimmage.

"After the last performance, I don't feel like we had too much to look at that was encouraging, to be honest with you," linebacker James Harrison said after that showing. "It's still the preseason, but there are still things that we need to fix or adjust."

Whether or not the preseason is or is not an omen of things to come, those numbers are not inspiring. Keith Butler tends to think it does.

"We need the experience together, and even if it is experience of failing, it is better than not being out there," he said this week. "You have to put some stock in the preseason because you have to see who can do what and you evaluate like that."

To be fair, the Steelers haven't been fielding their complete unit. Lawrence Timmons, the leader of their linebacking corps, has missed three weeks with a toe injury. Defensive end Stephon Tuitt twisted his ankle against the Packers and safety Mike Mitchell has been nursing a sore hamstring and twisted ankle that kept him from action.

Still, Pittsburgh was 18th in total defense and 27th against the pass last season. Meanwhile, Brady threw the fifth-most touchdowns (33) and the Patriots were 9th in total offense. But the Steelers have hope in second-year linebacker Ryan Shazier and drafted two promising talents in backer Bud Dupree and corner Senquez Golson. They added corner Brandon Boykin in a trade with the Eagles in August.

The sum of those parts will reveal themselves in due course over their 2015 campaign, and they'll get one of their stiffest tests right away in Foxborough with the nation watching.

Judge Berman doubts independence of Wells Report

When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hired attorney and league confidant Ted Wells to investigate what was alleged to have been a conspiracy in the Patriots organization to deflate footballs running up to January's AFC Championship Game, he proclaimed the integrity of the proceedings as independent.

Seven months hence, United States Federal Judge Richard M. Berman disagreed.

Ruling against the NFL's four-game suspension of quarterback Tom Brady on Thursday, Berman placed the word "independent" in quotation marks in his opinion, clearing placing what he believes a reasonable doubt on that original declaration.

Chief among his reasons for doubting that independence was that NFL general counsel Jeff Pash was permitted (and had been proved to so permit) to edit the official verdict of Wells' report after it was submitted to the league, and that the accused was not entitled to see those edits.

"Denied the opportunity to examine Pash at the arbitral hearing, Brady was prejudiced. He was foreclosed from exploring, among other things, whether the Pash/Wells investigation was truly 'independent,' and how and why the NFL's General Counsel came to edit a supposedly independent investigation report," Berman wrote in his opinion.

Then, of course, there is the fact of to whom Wells really owed his loyalty. The man who his employers were convinced was guilty of the crime they alleged him to have committed, or the league that would, for his services, enrich him by millions of dollars.

The defense rests.

NFLPA releases statement after Brady ruling

In light of what appears to be a complete victory for their side, the NFL Players Association released an official statement after a federal judge threw out the original four-game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in a ruling on Thursday.

DeMaurice Smith, the union's executive director, called for a more cooperative approach between labor and management on matters of discipline in the future.

"The rights of Tom Brady and of all NFL players under the collective bargaining agreement were affirmed today by a Federal Judge in a court of the NFL's choosing. We thank Judge Berman for his time, careful consideration of the issue, and fair and just result," Smith said.

"This decision should prove, once and for all, that our Collective Bargaining Agreement does not grant this Commissioner the authority to be unfair, arbitrary, and misleading. While the CBA grants the person who occupies the position of the Commissioner the ability to judiciously and fairly exercise the designated power of that position, the union did not agree to attempts to unfairly, illegally exercise that power, contrary to what the NFL has repeatedly and wrongfully claimed.

"We are happy for the victory of the rule of law for our players and our fans. This court's decision to overturn the NFL Commissioner again should signal to every NFL owner that collective bargaining is better than legal losses. Collective bargaining is a much better process that will lead to far better results."

The process by which Goodell suspended Brady originally was, in fact, an agreed upon deliberation as dictated by the collective bargaining agreement between the union and the NFL. 

Federal judge dismisses Brady's suspension

Brady has been freed.

Per the request of thousands of homemade signs crafted by young and old across New England, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had his four-game suspension dismissed by federal judge Richard Berman on Thursday.

Brady will be immediately eligible to start New England's regular season opener when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 10.

"Commissioner Goodell dispensed his own brand of industrial justice," Berman said in a damning sentiment.

The NFL will have the chance to appeal this decision through the second circuit, which they are expected to do. However, they will not stay the decision, all but ensuring Brady will take all the snaps in the first four games of the regular season.

The lynchpin in Berman's ruling was the lack of direct evidence the NFL had employed in rendering the suspension after alleging Brady's masterminding of a scheme to deflate footballs used in January's AFC Championship Game.

"The court finds that no player alleged or found to have had a general awareness of the inappropriate ball deflation activities of others or who allegedly schemed with others to let air out of footballs in a championship game and also had not cooperated in an ensuing investigation, reasonably could be on notice that their discipline would (or should) be the same as applied to a player who violated the NFL policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Subatances."

That comparison Goodell made to the court was one argument Judge Berman disregarded out of hand. There could be no decent and biding connection, he thought, between the severity of competitive advantage gained by ingested chemicals and that gained by a football with one pound per square inch removed in what was not a close contest.

Berman did note in his ruling that he did not believe Goodell was "evidently partial," which could be said to be the single positive outcome for the Commissioner on the day.

One aspect of the entire affair still stands out: the NFL's decision to not pursue a settlement with Brady after he was said to be open to one outside the court is still a confusing choice made by the league's front office.

BREAKING: Tom Brady suspension overturned

Not even a home field advantage could help the NFL in this case.

Tom Brady, to the hopes and prayers of Patriots fans, has been "freed."

On Thursday morning, Judge Richard Berman overturned the league's original four-game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in his alleged involvement in the DeflateGate controversy, according to the Associated Press.

The ruling clears the way for Brady to start New England's regular season opener on Sept. 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and cannot help but hand another very large blow to the former credibility of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who finds himself on the losing end of yet another high-profile attempt at punishing his players.

Goodell and the NFL lost their cases with regards to the BountyGate case, the Ray Rice controversy, the Adrian Peterson child abuse case, and the Greg Hardy domestic violence controversy.

The next logical step, as it always has been, is an appeal, so the DeflateGate story is not yet over.

There will be more to come throughout the day.

Patriots lose James Develin for season

One of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick's favorite players won't be in the fold when the team takes the field this coming regular season.

James Develin, a versatile tight end/fullback, will miss the entire year after being placed on the injured reserve list on Tuesday, according to the Boston Herald.

Develin broke his tibia in the Patriots' exhibition game against the Panthers on Friday night, and stayed in Charlotte to have surgery before returning to Foxboro for a follow-up evaluation with team doctors.

He was first said to miss 6-8 weeks and the Patriots could have waited the injury out and keep him on the 53 man roster, or elected to place him on the injured reserve/designated for return list, but that choice was not long considered as the team knew they would likely need the extra roster spot in the future.

Reggie Wayne: I feel like a rookie

Reggie Wayne has been in the NFL for a decade and a half and has been involved in every kind of passing play coaches can design. But after signing a one-year deal with the Patriots this week, he had to admit he felt a little lost.

"Like a rookie," Wayne said when asked how he felt blending into New England's playbook. "They're throwing a lot at me right now. I'm not getting very much sleep. I feel like a rookie all over again."

Much of the work is mental. The Patriots' play the Erhard-Perkins scheme, a pass game that involves wide receivers using their brains as much as their brawn in a high volume of short gaining plays in multiple formations, asking wide-outs to make improvised decisions in the moment against a particular defensive alignment.

And while Wayne didn't come to Foxboro a lock to make the final roster, some injuries at the position may boost his playing time. Julian Edelman is still questionable for the season opener with a leg injury and Brandon LaFell may be headed for the PUP list with a foot ailment. 

Experience is on his side: Wayne has the NFL's 7th-most receptions (1,070), is eighth all-time in receiving yards (14,345), and is 22nd in league history with 82 touchdown catches.

Patriots fan trolls Goodell's house in Maine

Not long after upholding Tom Brady's suspension, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly asked police in Scarborough, Maine if they could watch his house and protect it from vengeful, vigilante Patriots fans.

Maybe he should have called the Air Force.

Richard Pate, proud son of Biddesford, Maine, hired a local pilot to fly a plane over Goodell's home with a banner behind it, telling him to go back to New York.

It isn't the first private plane to troll the DeflateGate scandal from above. When Patriots' camp opened this week, Jets Fan Media rigged a plane to carry a banner reading, "Cheaters Look Up" over the proceedings.

It was too much for Mr. Pate.

"I went over to [a pilot] and asked if he'd be willing to fly a banner, and he was more than happy to," Pate said, via WCSH (Portland). "You know, the irony is I don't remember the Jets winning many Super Bowls, maybe one back in the 60s."

Jets Fan Media, your move.

Jimmy Garoppolo not thinking about starting

A federal judge will determine whether or not Tom Brady starts Week 1 for the Patriots despite his being banned from the gridiron for four games by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Which all but makes Jimmy Garoppolo the presumed starter under center when the regular season opens in Foxborough against the Steelers on Sept. 10.

Not that he's thinking about it.

"We're not really looking that far ahead," he said on Thursday when asked if he was ready to start.

"I don't think anyone is. It's the first day of training camp, got with the guys and it felt good to get out here with all of them."

Garoppolo has clearly been trained well since joining the warm embrace of Bill Belichick and his school of media manipulation: say nothing in many words. 

Somewhere up there, the cliche gods are writhing in pain.

"Just take it one day at a time," he told reporters. "You can't focus on everything at once because it'll overwhelm you, so you just gotta take it one day at a time, focus on the little things, focus on improving every day."

Reality did afford him the opportunity, however, to at least admit that he finds himself in a vastly different position this time around than he's been in before. Playing some snaps in the preseason and in garbage time after the Patriots ruined somebody in the regular season is not quite what he may find himself subjected to this autumn.

"This year, it's completely different and I've got different goals," he said. 

The first of which is to get New England as close to a 4-0 record as possible for when a bitter Tom Brady returns to the fold as the Patriots pursue their fifth Super Bowl run.

Tom Brady ban could affect NFC East

When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld his four-game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for his supremely unproven masterminding of the DeflateGate controversy, he inadvertently affected the race to decide the NFC East.

Brady is eligible to come back in Week 5, which, as fate would have, is a rematch with the Colts -- the very club his Pats handled to an inflated result with their allegedly deflated footballs in January's AFC title game. 

Should Brady not be granted the injunction he and his counsel will most likely pursue, he won't be under center when the Patriots play a certain game in Arlington, Texas. All the promos CBS were going to air about the quarterback duel between Tony Romo and Tom Brady will have to be airbrushed to include Jimmy Garoppolo.

Which makes the Cowboys a sudden favorite to win that game. And gives the Eagles, Redskins, and Giants an almost certain one-game disadvantage in their effort to win the division. 

When Philadelphia visits Foxborough on Dec. 6, the matinee idol will be back where he belongs -- and, one guesses, in a sour mood from all that sitting in his moated mansion with his supermodel wife for a crime he couldn't be convicted of properly.

Brady will also man the Pats when they feast on New York and Washington.

Trouble is, the NFC East is a rather closely contested division, not having been decided by more than two games since 2008. Advantage Cowboys.

On the other hand, if Brady and the union contest his suspension in federal court, he could play the entire season unharmed while the tedious and never-ending legal system plays itself silly. He could play this season and, if on the losing end, could serve his suspension later.

Maine police asked to watch Roger Goodell's home

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has asked police in Maine to protect his house after upholding the four-game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

According to the Portland Press-Herald, Goodell owns a home in Scarborough worth $6.5 million, and fears retribution from area Patriots fans after his ruling against their superstar.

"They did reach out and let us know about the decision and that it might not be popular," said police chief Robbie Moulton.

There haven't been any reports of any damage or any threats near the home, but police have been patrolling the area nonetheless over the past two days.

This isn't the first time area police have been asked to look out for Goodell's house.

"In the past, when there have been unpopular decisions, there have been emails and things," Moulton added. "I wouldn't say it rose to the level of threats, but certainly expressing unhappiness."

It's safe to say the likelihood of Goodell's home being violated is limited, but as for himself, he would be wise to stay free of the Boston area, and the vicinity of Robert Kraft, for some time to come.

@MrJamesParks

DeflateGate is long from over

And you thought DeflateGate was over.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld the original four-game suspension he gave Patriots quarterback Tom Brady following the report his office commissioned all but condemned him as the criminal mastermind behind a batch of underinflated footballs. That's that, right?

Not so fast.

Brady, armed with the battery of attorneys that come with membership in the Players' Association, is expected to take the NFL to court on account of what they will call a corrupt and unfair procedure. Goodell, they'll say, posed himself as judge and jury in a case he himself brought against the four-time Super Bowl champion.

The NFL, meanwhile, is confident of any result that would come from a court date. That very procedure the union will condemn as a kangaroo court was agreed to by all parties concerned in the recent collective bargaining agreement. 

The case for Brady's innocence had been largely undecided from an objective point of view. Those who despise the Patriots, including their scores of gridiron victims, were adamant that the matinee idol was a cheater. Those, on the other hand, whose ZIP code begins with "0" were convinced of his innocence.

The answer to that question may have been tilted heavily to one side, the side the gentle, Puritan folk of New England would prefer not to believe. In his ruling, Goodell revealed that Brady destroyed his phone around the time of the investigation. Why would an innocent man obliterate his own phone?

The alibi: Tom Brady destroys his phone every four years. After all, who doesn't do that?

Well, no one -- except people with many things to hide from inquisitive enemies.

Tom Brady took nearly every snap for the Patriots last season, and likes to take nearly every one of them in training camp. With his absence now a distinct possibility, that could change. 

Though Brady is allowed to participate in preseason activities, Jimmy Garoppolo will have to be a sharp as possible if he's starting against the Steelers on Sept. 10, and that means he'll have to take most of the reps. Those 27 career pass attempts of his won't be enough to get by when Pittsburgh comes to town.

Will it come to that?

Should Brady and his counsel elect an injunction, and it were received, the Patriots would have to decide between a fast track court case or allow it to play out naturally, possibly allowing Brady to start Week 1 without the case being decided.

The danger of the former path is profound. If Brady starts Week 1 and is decided against by a judge, that four game absence could come at the worst time for New England -- when they likely would be in a postseason race or in the postseason itself.

Brady will do anything within his power to clear his name and reputation, particularly after that new revelation concerning those bits and pieces of phone scattered all over Massachusetts. 

That said, it's very hard for a court to grant an injunction, particularly in the case of overturning a decision internal to an organization that its members have contractually agreed to, as the NFLPA and the league did with the procedure Goodell used to suspend Brady.

Not to mention that Patriots owner Robert Kraft willingly (if grudgingly) surrendered to the $1 million fine and two draft picks the NFL took from them as part of the original ruling.

That, combined with the entirely consensual means of adjudicating the case, would give a federal judge little reason to side with Brady. 

Which makes Jimmy Garoppolo the quarterback of the New England Patriots.

@MrJamesParks

Robert Kraft is not pleased with Brady ruling

Now we know why Robert Kraft gave in to the NFL's punishments against his franchise.

There was registered surprise around the league after the Patriots' owner accepted the loss of two draft picks and the $1 million fine two months ago as part of the overall DeflateGate punishment.

He thought that by giving in to some of the league's demands, he could soften them up in their case against his quarterback, Tom Brady.

Now, with Brady's four game suspension upheld by Roger Goodell, Kraft let everyone know how he really feels. It's hard to realize you were a sucker all along.

"I was wrong to put my faith in the league," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Back in May, I had to make a difficult decision that I now regret," he added. "I tried to do what I thought was right. I chose not to take legal action. I wanted to return the focus to football."

Kraft was banking on his long and friendly relationship with Goodell and his own high stature within the league ranks to possibly get a reduction in Brady's suspension in a "one hand washes the other" deal.

That never happened.

"The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me. It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal, and in a vast majority of these cases, there's tangible, hard evidence of the infraction for which the discipline is being imposed. And still, the initial penalty gets reduced. Six months removed from the AFC Championship Game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the PSI levels of footballs."

Kraft publicly apologized for accepting the original penalties and reiterated his support for Brady, adding that the league released what he believed was a headling-grabbing statement in reference to Brady destroying his cell phone in an effort to harm his reputation.

"Tom Brady is a person of great integrity, and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field," Kraft said. "Yet for the reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right, rather than admit any culpability of their own, or take any responsibility for the initation of a process, an ensuing investigation, that was flawed. I've come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just."

Which, admittedly, will be hard for Brady and the players' union to prove in a court of law, given that the means of procedure were agreed to by they and the NFL in their most recent collective bargaining agreement.

Roger Goodell upholds Brady's 4 game ban

NEW YORK - The name and face of the national game will officially miss the first quarter of the coming regular season.

The NFL announced they will uphold the four game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady relating to his alleged involvement in the "DeflateGate" controversy, the league announced on Tuesday.

Brady will lose about $2 million in salary as New England opens the regular season hosting the Steelers, visiting the Bills, against the Jaguars, and at the Cowboys. He will be eligible to return to the field in Week 6 at the Indianapolis Colts.

The decision comes more than six months after the Patriots were accused of playing with underinflated footballs in January's AFC Championship Game against the Colts before claiming the Super Bowl the following month.

The NFL commissioned attorney Ted Wells to investigate into the matter, eventually publishing in its findings that Tom Brady was "generally aware" of a scheme to take air from footballs used in competition last season.

The NFL Players Association has said publicly they will challenge the ruling in court should the four-game ban be upheld.

A turning point in the proceedings came when the NFL learned that Brady may have destroyed his cell phone to keep the league from acquiring what they feel were damning text messages between he and Patriots equipment managers in relation to the alleged scheme.

"On or shortly before March 6, the day that Tom Brady met with independent investigator Ted Wells and his colleagues," the league's statement reads, "Brady directed that the cell phone he had used for the prior four months be destroyed.

"He did so even though he was aware that the investigators had requested access to text messages and other electronic information that had been stored on that phone. During the four months that the cell phone was in use, Brady had exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages, none of which can now be retrieved from that device. 

"The destruction of the cell phone was not disclosed until June 18, almost four months after the investigators had first sought electronic information."

That new development was the closest thing Goodell and the NFL had to an admission of guilt to keep the suspension in tact. Until June 18, the league admittedly had little convincing proof to act on.

"The commissioner found that Brady's deliberate destruction of potentially relevant evidence went beyond a mere failure to cooperate in the investigation and supported a finding that he had sought to hide evidence of his own participation in the underlying scheme to alter the footballs."

@MrJamesParks

Colts owner Irsay: Patriots game will be "huge"

SAN FRANCISCO -- In case you haven't heard by now, the Indianapolis Colts once not long ago accused the New England Patriots of manipulating the air pressure in their footballs running up to their AFC Championship meeting in January.

After many long and trying dramas that have followed that accusation, including the regretful surrender of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who on Tuesday announced he will not pursue any appeal for his club's punishment in that affair, and the still pending appeal of quarterback Tom Brady surrounding his alleged guilt in the national tragedy known as DeflateGate, Colts owner Jim Irsay took to the microphone to rap about the two teams' rematch this coming season.

"The Patriots game will be a huge, huge, huge, game obviously," he said, via Boston Globe, speaking at the NFL Owners' Meetings. 

One of the issues discussed at the meetings have been the impartial handling of footballs, though Irsay declined to admit what was said about the issue. He did say, though, that "the chain of custody of footballs is watched closely." Commissioner Roger Goodell did not comment on what was said about the concern.

What could make the matchup between these two clubs even more monumental is the fact that, if Brady's appeal is overturned, his first game back will be the primetime squabble at the Colts. 

Which surely wouldn't involve tens of thousands of Colts fans brandishing deflated footballs in the stands, or placards that tease Brady about his balls, right?

Patriots RB Blount suspended for season opener

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Patriots running back LaGarrette Blount has been suspended for the regular season opener this season, the National Football League announced on Tuesday.

The suspension comes for abuse of the league's substance abuse policy and comes without pay, though he will be eligible for all offseason and preseason practices and games.

Blount was arrested for marijuana possession last August with running back Le'Veon Bell when both were with the Steelers after a police stop in suburban Pittsburgh. Blount's misdemeanor charge was dropped by a judge in Pennsylvania after he completed community service.

He was released by the Steelers in November after a number of incidents, including leaving the field early in a Monday night game at Tennessee after not seeing the field.

He was picked up by the Patriots for the final five regular games of last season, running for 281 yards and three touchdowns, notching 189 yards in the postseason. His three touchdown rushes powered New England past the Colts in a 45-7 rout in the AFC Championship Game.

Stevan Ridley visiting Redskins

ASHBURN, Va. - Stevan Ridley is heading to the nation's capitol in search of a job.

The former Patriots running back, who also spent time with the Dolphins and Jets this offseason, will visit Redskins head coach Jay Gruden on Tuesday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Ridley, a free agent, tore his ACL and MCL in a Week 6 clash with the Bills last season, and was replaced by LaGarrette Blount after a series of costly fumbles in 2013.

A third-round pick in 2011 from LSU, he had two seasons with seven or more touchdowns, notching 2,817 yards and 22 scores. His career-long rush of 43 yards came last season against the Bengals.

The Redskins finished 19th last season in rushing (105.7 ypg) behind Alfred Morris, whose 1,074 yards were eleventh-best in the NFL, adding a third-best eight touchdown rushes.

Patriots sign TE Chandler

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Tight end Scott Chandler was signed by the New England Patriots on Monday, the team announced.

Chandler, a seven-year veteran, started for the Chargers, Giants, and Cowboys, and for the last five seasons the Bills, hauling in 47 receptions for 497 yards and three scoring catches. 

"Obviously very excited to be part of a championship organization," Chandler told the team's website. "It's something I have I have always wanted to do with my career and now I get that chance. I am really looking forward to it."

Picked in the fourth-round of the 2007 NFL Draft out of Iowa, Chandler has 17 touchdown receptions on 182 catches for 2,120 career yards. 

2013 was a career year for Chandler, ending a 16 game campaign with 53 receptions and 655 yards and two scores.

"It was a lot of what I expected, very warm and inviting," Chandler said of his welcoming to the franchise. "I feel comfortable here. Mr. Kraft runs a top class organization and obviously Coach [Bill Belichick] does a great job of keeping everyone around here. It was very inviting. Everyone was really nice."

Chandler is expected to feature as a compliment to three-time Pro Bowl end Rob Gronkowski, and says he can provide anything the team will ask of him.

"I can do a little bit of everything as a tight end," Chandler said. "I am a veteran guy. I am a guy you can count on to know what to do and to do my job."