FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots released running back Michael Cloud today. New England now reports 52 players on its active roster.
Cloud, 30, played in four games for the Patriots this season and recorded nine rushes for eight yards after being signed as a free agent on Nov. 4. The 5-foot-10-inch, 205-pound running back is in his seventh NFL season and has played in 75 career games with seven starts and has recorded 178 rushes for 597 yards and 12 touchdowns, playing for the Kansas City Chiefs (1999-2002), New York Giants (2004) and the Patriots (2003, 2005). He played in five games for the Patriots in the 2003 season, starting one, and ran the ball 27 times for 118 yards and a team-high five touchdowns. The former Boston College star has also caught 13 passes for 100 yards and has returned 56 kickoffs for 1,194 yards in his career. He was originally drafted by the Chiefs in the second round (53rd overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft. Cloud, a former high school star at Portsmouth (R.I.) High, joined the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent on June 23, 2003. He led the Patriots with five rushing touchdowns in 2003, and scored two touchdowns in two separate games, against Tennessee (10/5/03) and Indianapolis (11/30/03). Cloud was released by the Patriots in the final 2004 preseason roster cutdown (9/3/04) and was signed by the New York Giants (9/6/04). He played in 10 games for the Giants last season before being released following the 2005 preseason (9/4/05).
