The Patriots exchanged one fifth-year player for another on the day before their Week 4 clash against the Bills. New England signed Greg Scruggs and cut John Hughes, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Both have spent the majority of their careers as defensive linemen, but Scruggs could be tapped to play tight end for the Patriots. He played four seasons as a reserve defensive lineman, seeing action for the Seahawks in 2012, ’13 and ’15, before moving to tight end with the Bears. The Pats worked out Scruggs on Friday.
Chicago waived Scruggs earlier this week. The 6-foot-3 former defensive end did see time in all three of Chicago’s games thus far this season but hasn’t made a catch at his new position yet. The Patriots listed Rob Gronkowski as questionable again this week. If he’s unable to go, Scruggs could have a route to being a game-day active in a Martellus Bennett-fronted group.
However, the Pats already have two other tight ends on their roster in Clay Harbor and A.J. Derby, and Doug Kyed of NESN.com (Twitter link) points out the team might want Scruggs to work at his former position.
Hughes signed with the Patriots on Monday after the Browns cut him last week to create a spot for Charlie Whitehurst. Cleveland signed the defensive lineman to a four-year, $14.4MM extension in March of 2015, but the franchise’s new regime evidently didn’t think as highly of him as the Ray Farmer– and Mike Pettine-led operation did.
The 28-year-old Hughes has played in 53 games (10 starts) since coming into the league as a third-round pick in 2012. He played in one game for the Browns this season after suiting up for all 16 in 2015. Hughes has 5.5 career sacks to his credit.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.