FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots signed free agent offensive lineman Marques Sullivan today. The team subsequently waived wide receiver Kevin Kasper.
Sullivan, 26, is in his fourth NFL season and has played in 32 career games with 22 starts. The 6-foot-5-inch, 325-pound lineman was originally drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round (144th overall) of the 2001 NFL Draft. He spent three seasons with the Bills from 2001 to 2003, and was a member of the New York Giants this season. The University of Illinois product was listed among the Giants' day-of-game inactives for all 11 games in 2004 and was waived by New York on Tuesday, Nov. 30. He joined the Giants after spending the first three seasons of his pro career in Buffalo, with his most productive campaign coming in 2002, when he started all 16 games for the Bills at right guard. As a rookie in 2001, he played in 10 games with a pair of starts, one at each tackle position. Last season, Sullivan played in six games with four starts at left tackle. The Chicago native will wear number 77 for the Patriots. His first name (Marques) is pronounced "Marcus".
Kasper, 25, was signed by the Patriots as a free agent on Oct. 6, 2004. The 6-foot-1-inch, 202-pound wide receiver appeared in the next six games for New England, with the fourth-year pro contributing mostly on special teams. In his first three seasons, he appeared in 30 games for three different teams (Denver, Seattle and Arizona), starting eight of those games at wide receiver. Kasper has 24 career receptions for 297 yards and three touchdowns in his career. He also has a career average of 24.3 yards on 76 kickoff returns (1848 yards), including two returns for 40 yards with the Patriots this season.
