The New England Patriots have announced the release of six veteran players: DL Ty Warren, TE Alge Crumpler, OT Nick Kaczur, LB Tully Banta-Cain, CB Tony Carter, and DL Marcus Stroud. The most surpising name here is Ty Warren, who was expected to start next to Albert Haynesworth and Vince Wilfork. There's the possibility that Warren is simply restructuring his contract with the team, but if not, then this opens up questions about the Patriots' defensive line that seemed to have been answered with the Albert Haynesworth acquistion.
Veteran run-blocking TE Alge Crumpler is also a somewhat surprising name to see on the list, while Nick Kaczur had proven increasingly ineffective, and news of Tully Banta-Cain's release broke earlier in the week when it was revealed he had waited until just before the lockout ended to have surgery done on an abdominal tear.
The Patriots have also announced the signings of third-round selection Ryan Mallet and fifth-round pick Marcus Cannon. Mallet was a surprise choice by the Patriots, and is expected to either be groomed to take over for Tom Brady whenever he decides to hang up his cleats, or just to be shifted for a better pick when another team goes looking for a potential future starting quarterback.
Marcus Cannon, an offensive lineman out of TCU, just recently finished chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma earlier this month.There's no word yet on when he will be able to take the field full-time again, but it's an encouraging sign that the Patriots were willing to make a commitment.