The Patriots are hosting linebacker Jonathan Casillas and tight end Asante Cleveland today, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) and Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (Twitter link), respectively.
Casillas should be familiar to New England’s decision-makers, as the Patriots acquired him from the Buccaneers at the 2014 trade deadline. He played in eight games for the Pats that season before agreeing to a three-year, $10.5MM deal with the Giants the following offseason. New York is not expected to re-sign the 30-year-old Casillas, who finished the year on injured reserve, so he could help fill out a New England linebacker corps that also includes Dont’a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy, and Elandon Roberts.
Cleveland, meanwhile, was scheduled to become a restricted free agent this offseason, but the Chargers opted not to tender him a contract. While he’s never topped 12% playing time on offense and only has one career reception, Cleveland would be a candidate for special teams and reserve duty behind Rob Gronkowski. The Patriots are expected to release fellow tight end Dwayne Allen at some point, but given that he doesn’t have any guarantees due in the near future, Allen could stick on the New England roster throughout the summer.