FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots re-signed veteran cornerback Hank Poteat today. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Poteat, 28, was initially acquired by the Patriots as a free agent on Jan. 10, 2005, and has played in 10 regular-season games and five playoff games for New England. The 5-foot-10-inch, 192-pound cornerback will enter his sixth NFL season in 2006 and has played in 52 career regular-season games and seven playoff games for the Pittsburgh Steelers (2000-02), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2003) and Patriots (2004-05). The University of Pittsburgh product was originally drafted by the Steelers in the third round (77th overall) of the 2000 NFL Draft.
With the Patriots in 2005, Poteat set a single-season career high with 24 tackles (20 solo) and also recorded his first career sack against the New York Jets on Dec. 26, 2005. He set a single-game career high with nine tackles (8 solo) in the 2005 regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins on Jan. 1, 2006. Poteat's career regular-season statistics include 33 tackles (29 solo), one sack, one pass defensed, one forced fumble and three fumble recoveries. He has also returned 45 kickoffs for 818 yards (18.2 avg) and 76 punts for 788 yards (10.4 avg) and a touchdown.
