FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (April 7, 2006) -- Kicker Martin Gramatica, who was out of football all of last season, was signed by New England as a potential replacement for the departed Adam Vinatieri.
The Patriots also signed safety Tebucky Jones, who was one of their two first-round draft picks in 1998 but was traded away four years ago.
Vinatieri, who kicked last-minute field goals to win two Super Bowls for New England, signed in March with Indianapolis.
Gramatica was one of the NFL's better kickers early in his career with Tampa Bay, which began in 1999. He made the Pro Bowl in 2000.
But his performance fell off badly in 2004, when he made just 11 of 19 field goals and was cut after 11 games. For his career, he has made 76.5 percent of his career field goal attempts (137-of-179) and 11 of 12 attempts in the playoffs.
Jones, drafted as a cornerback, was moved to safety in 2000 and was a starter on the New England team that won the Super Bowl after the 2001 season. He was traded to New Orleans in 2002 and had the best season of his career with the Saints in 2003, when he had 101 tackles.
Jones played in Miami last season and was limited to six games by injury.
