FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots signed RB Thomas Clayton to the 53-man roster from the Cleveland practice squad today. Terms of the contract were not announced. To make room on the 53-man roster for Clayton, the Patriots announced that they have released OL Quinn Ojinnaka.
Clayton, 5-11, 222 pounds, went to training camp with New England but was waived on Sept. 4. He signed to the Cleveland practice squad on Sept. 14. Clayton originally was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round of the 2007 Draft out of Kansas State. After spending all of 2007 on the San Francisco practice squad, Clayton spent the first 14 weeks of 2008 as part of that unit until being signed to the active roster for the final two games of the season. He spent the 2009 season on injured reserve after getting injured during the preseason.
Ojinnaka, 6-5, 295 pounds, was acquired by New England in a trade with the Atlanta Falcons for undisclosed draft considerations on August 23, 2010. He is a veteran of four NFL seasons after originally joining Atlanta as a fifth-round draft pick out of Syracuse in 2006.
