FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots re-signed veteran offensive lineman Ross Tucker today. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Tucker, 26, joined the Patriots as a free agent on Dec. 13, 2005, and played in one regular-season game and one playoff game for New England last season. He made his Patriots debut in the 2005 regular-season finale against Miami on Jan. 1, 2006, and also participated in New England's divisional playoff game at Denver on Jan. 14, 2006.
The 6-foot-4-inch, 316-pound offensive lineman will enter his sixth NFL season in 2006 and has played in 42 career games with 24 starts since entering the NFL with the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent prior to the 2001 season. The versatile lineman has played guard and center in the NFL. Tucker has played for four NFL teams: the Redskins (2001-02), Dallas Cowboys (2002), Buffalo Bills (2003-04) and the Patriots (2005). The Princeton product played in three games as a rookie for the Redskins in 2001 and played for Washington in three of the first six games in 2002 before being waived on Oct. 22, 2002. He was claimed off waivers by Dallas the following day and started at left guard for the Cowboys in the final seven games of the 2002 season. Tucker was signed by the Buffalo Bills prior to the 2003 season and played in 28 games with 17 starts over the next two seasons. In 2004, he played in all 16 games for the Bills with 12 starting assignments (four games at center and the final eight games at left guard). The Wyomissing, Pa. native was with Buffalo through 2005 training camp before being released in the final preseason roster cutdown on Sept. 4, 2005.
