DE Chris Long signs with Patriots

It was a busy day in Foxboro, huh?

After trading away Defensive End Chandler Jones Tuesday afternoon to the Arizona Cardinals, the New England Patriots reportedly signed Defensive End Chris long to a one year deal.

More patriots: Patriots Trade Chandler Jones to Cardinals

The soon-to-be 31 year old visited Foxboro yesterday and had a meeting with the team. He met with the Redskins and Patriots planned to visit the Cowboys, among other teams. But Long made it clear that he “only wants to play for a contender”.

More from Patriots Free Agency

• Could the Patriots bring in Ryan Tannehill for a year?
• Patriots should jump on the chance to trade for Pro Bowl LB
• PFF’s favorite and least favorite Patriots’ offseason moves
• How Patriots free agent additions can help Mac Jones
• Cardinals could cut Hopkins, Patriots should pounce on WR

Long has 54.5 career sacks, but his production the past couple seasons has dropped. He totalled just 2 sacks all of last season in 12 games played. Long’s best season came in 2011 were he finished the year with 13.0 sacks, 31 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 2 pass defends.

Although Long is the not the answer for long (see what I did there?) term stability at defensive end, he would still prove to be a great veteran presence to a group of young players that may eventually take over the majority of snaps in the future.

But who knows? There’s a good chance Long has more gas in the tank. Many had predicted that DE Rob Ninkovich was regressing a couple years ago, and happened to have one of his best seasons in 2015.

Despite the move, the Patriots still have work to do this offseason, so expect a couple more before the draft.

With many fan complaints due to a quiet beginning to the offseason, the media and fans finally have something to talk about, right?