FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots signed defensive back Je'Rod Cherry and wide receiver Kevin Kasper to the team's 53-man active roster today. The team subsequently placed offensive tackle Adrian Klemm on the reserve / injured list with a foot injury.
Cherry, 31, re-joins the Patriots after playing in 43 regular-season games and six playoff games for the team from 2001-03. The 6-foot-1-inch, 210-pound special teams standout is in his 10th NFL season, and has recorded 105 career special teams tackles, including 36 special teams stops in his three seasons in New England. Cherry began his tenure with the Patriots when he signed with New England as an unrestricted free agent on July 25, 2001. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the second round (40th overall) of the 1996 NFL Draft, and played for the Saints from 1996-99 before joining the Philadelphia Eagles for the 2000 season. In his NFL career, he has played in 116 games and recorded 62 defensive tackles (54 solo), including three sacks. In addition, the Cal-Berkeley product has recorded 12 or more special teams tackles in each of his last seven NFL seasons. Cherry was released by New England in the final preseason roster cutdown on Sept. 5, 2004.
Kasper, 26, joins the Patriots after spending the first three years of his NFL career with Denver, Seattle and, most recently, the Arizona Cardinals. The 6-foot-1-inch, 202-pound wideout and kick returner has played in 30 career games with eight starts, and has caught 24 career passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns. Kasper has also returned 74 kickoffs for 1,808 yards (24.4 avg). The former Iowa Hawkeye was originally selected by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round (190th overall) of the 2001 NFL Draft. As a rookie with the Broncos, he caught eight passes for 84 yards and returned 14 kickoffs for 372 yards while playing in 10 games with four starts. In 2002, Kasper had the most productive season of his career, grabbing a total of 15 passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns while returning 55 kickoffs for 1,300 yards (23.6 avg.). That season, he spent time with Denver (four games), Seattle (three) and Arizona (six). Kasper was claimed off waivers by the Cardinals on Nov. 22, 2002, and remained with Arizona until he was released in the final preseason roster cutdown on Sept. 5, 2004.
Klemm, 27, is in his fifth season with the Patriots, the team that selected him in the second round (46th overall) of the 2000 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-3-inch, 312-pound offensive tackle has played in 26 games for the Patriots and has earned 10 starting assignments. Klemm played in the first two games of the 2004 season, and started the first three games of the 2003 season. In 2002, the University of Hawaii alumnus played in all 16 games with three starts while seeing time at right guard and right tackle. He did not see game action in 2001, and played in five games with four starts as a rookie in 2000.
