FOXBOROUGH, Mass.- The New England Patriots signed unrestricted free agent defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield and free agent cornerback Earthwind Moreland today. Terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
Stubblefield, 33, has started in 149 of the 154 games he has played in over his 11-year NFL career, including stints with the San Francisco 49ers (1993-97, 2001-02), Washington Redskins (1998-2000) and Oakland Raiders (2003). The 6-foot-2-inch, 290-pound defensive lineman has amassed 428 career tackles (341 solo), including 53.5 sacks for losses of 325 yards. He has also recorded 32 pass deflections, two interceptions, nine forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in his career. He was selected to the Pro Bowl following the 1994, 1995 and 1997 seasons, and was named the Associated Press NFL defensive player of the year following a career-best 15-sack season in 1997.
The University of Kansas product has spent seven of his 11 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers (1993-97, 2001-02), the club that selected him with the 26th pick in the first round of the 1993 NFL Draft. Stubblefield's 46.5 total sacks in a San Francisco uniform rank sixth on the team's all-time sacks list, and all three of his Pro Bowl nods came while playing for the 49ers. As a rookie in 1993, he earned NFL defensive rookie of the year honors after leading the team with 10.5 sacks. He posted back-to-back Pro Bowl campaigns from 1994-95 and then returned to Hawaii with a career-high and team-leading 15 sacks in 1997. Stubblefield signed with the Washington Redskins as an unrestricted free agent prior to the 1998 season and started 37 of 38 total games in his three-year run in the nation's capital from 1998-2000. He rejoined the 49ers from 2001-02 and started all 31 games in which he played over that span. Last season, he moved across San Francisco Bay and played in eight games with six starts for the Oakland Raiders.
Stubblefield is a native of North Bend, Ohio, and has started all 15 playoff games in which he has appeared. He earned a Super Bowl ring following the 1994 season with San Francisco's victory in Super Bowl XXIX.
Moreland, 27, is in his third NFL season and is a veteran of two NFL Europe campaigns. The 5-foot-10-inch, 182-pounder spent the spring of 2004 with the Rhein Fire, starting at cornerback in all 10 contests and leading the team with 10 pass deflections. He also started every game for the Fire in 2002, earning all-NFL Europe League honors that season. The Georgia Southern product was originally signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent on April 16, 2000. His NFL experience has come with the Browns (2 games in 2001) and the New York Jets (1 game in 2000). He has also been a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaguars but did not see regular-season action with those teams.
