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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots re-signed veteran quarterback Vinny Testaverde  today. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The team also announced the release of three players; veteran defensive back Artrell Hawkins, second-year cornerback Gemara Williams and rookie linebacker Kyle Bissinger.

Testaverde is in his 21st NFL season and has played in 226 NFL games with 208 starts since entering the league with Tampa Bay in 1987. He currently ranks in the top 10 in NFL history in four major passing categories. He ranks sixth in NFL history with 45,281 passing yards and also places sixth in league annals with 3,693 career completions. His 270 career touchdown passes rank eighth in NFL history, and his 6,529 career attempts rank seventh. The 6-foot-5-inch, 235-pound quarterback is a veteran of 20 seasons with Tampa Bay (1987-92), Cleveland (1993-95), Baltimore (1996-97), the New York Jets (1998-2003, 2005) Dallas (2004) and New England (2006) and is the only player in NFL history to pass for at least one touchdown in 20 consecutive seasons. The previous NFL record of 18 consecutive seasons with a touchdown pass was help by Johnny Unitas and Fran Tarkenton. He has thrown for 300 or more yards 30 times in his career and has posted a passer rating of 100.0 or higher on 48 occasions. He was selected to the Pro Bowl following the 1998 season.

Testaverde, 43, was originally selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the first overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami, where he won the 1986 Heisman Trophy. He spent six seasons with the Buccaneers and owns Tampa Bay’s major career passing records with 2,160 attempts, 1,126 completions, 14,820 yards and 77 touchdowns.

Testaverde signed with the Cleveland Browns as a free agent on March 31, 1993, and was part of a turnaround engineered by Head Coach Bill Belichick that saw the Browns rebound from a 7-9 season in 1993 to finish the 1994 season with an 11-5 record - the second best mark in the AFC. Testaverde accompanied the Cleveland franchise’s move to Baltimore in 1996 and started the first 29 games in Ravens franchise history. He holds Baltimore’s major franchise passing records with 1,019 attempts, 596 completions, 7,148 yards and 51 touchdowns. He set career highs with 4,177 yards and 33 touchdowns for the Ravens in 1996 and earned his first of two career Pro Bowl selections that season.

Testaverde signed with the New York Jets on June 24, 1998, and began his seven-year run in New York with one of the finest seasons of his career. In 1998, Testaverde was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month in both November and December as the Jets won 10 of their last 11 regular-season games. He posted a career-high 101.6 passer rating that season and was named to the Pro Bowl as he led the Jets to their first division title since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger and a berth in the AFC Championship Game. After missing all but one game due to injury in 1999, Testaverde returned to start each game for New York from 2000-01, leading the Jets to a 9-7 record in 2000 and a 10-6 mark and a playoff berth in 2001. After starting 11-of-12 games for the Jets from 2002-03, he joined the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent prior to the 2004 season. In Dallas, Testaverde started 15-of-16 games and recorded his sixth career 3,000-plus yard season, totaling 3,532 yards and 17 touchdowns on 297-of-495 passing.

Last season, Testaverde signed with the Patriots on Nov. 14, 2006 and appeared in three regular season games. He threw a touchdown pass to Troy Brown against the Tennessee Titans on Dec. 31, 2006, to extend his NFL-record streak of seasons with a touchdown pass to 20.

Testaverde’s career numbers include 6,529 attempts, 3,693 completions, 45,281 yards, 270 touchdowns, 261 interceptions and a 75.2 career passer rating. He has also recorded 421 career rushes for 1,639 yards (3.9 avg.) and 15 touchdowns.

Hawkins, 30, is a veteran of nine NFL seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals (1998-2003), Carolina Panthers (2004) and New England Patriots (2005-06). The 5-foot-10-inch, 195-pound defensive back has played in 122 career games with 92 starts and has totaled 482 tackles (415 solo), including four sacks, 11 interceptions for 166 yards and a touchdown, 70 passes defensed, 12 forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and 33 special teams tackles. He has also played in five playoff games with five starts, all with the Patriots from 2005-06. The University of Cincinnati product was signed by the Patriots as a free agent on Nov. 16, 2005. He started four of the final five games of the 2005 season at safety, and also lined up at safety to start each of the Patriots two playoff games that year. Last season, Hawkins played in 14 games with 12 starts at safety and recorded 62 tackles (42 solo), one interception and 15 special teams tackles. Hawkins was originally drafted by the Bengals in the second round (43rd overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft. In six seasons with the Bengals (1998-2003), he started 72 of 89 games at cornerback, recording 375 tackles and nine interceptions. Hawkins played for the Carolina Panthers in 2004 and started four of 14 games that year while serving as the nickel back for most of the season.

Williams, 24, was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent from the University of Buffalo on May 8, 2006. The 5-foot-8-inch, 195-pound cornerback was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 2, 2006 and did not play in a game during his rookie season.

Bissinger, 23, was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent on May 8, 2007. The 6-foot-3-inch, 250-pound linebacker attended Alabama-Birmingham, where he played in 34 games over four seasons from 2003-2006.