Today’s practice squad moves:
Denver Broncos
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
New York Giants
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Washington Football Team
All of today’s minor transactions in one place:
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
A week after working out Brian Poole, the Patriots are signing the veteran cornerback. The sides agreed on a practice squad deal Wednesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Despite the practice squad agreement, this could be an impactful deal for the Pats. New England just lost longtime slot corner Jonathan Jones for the season with a shoulder injury and lacks a proven cog for the role behind him. Poole, 29, certainly brings considerable experience here.
The Saints reached an injury settlement with Poole earlier this month, cutting him from their injured reserve. Poole, however, spent the past two seasons in the AFC East. In the two Jets seasons, Pro Football Focus graded Poole as a top-12 corner. Prior to his Jets run, Poole spent three seasons with the Falcons.
The Patriots traded for potential slot corner Shaun Wade late this summer but have yet to see the Ohio State product debut. Wade sustained a concussion that has kept him out. New England has also not seen much from 2019 second-round pick Joejuan Williams. J.C. Jackson and Jalen Mills reside as the Pats’ top two corners going into Week 8.
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Denver Broncos
Indianapolis Colts
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Tennessee Titans
Jonathan Jones‘ season is over. After being placed on IR last week, the Patriots cornerback is now set for season-ending shoulder surgery (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 
Initially, the Patriots hoped to have him back as soon as Week 10. Now, Jones’ 2021 will end with 20 stops and one interception in six games.
The sixth-year pro worked his way up from UDFA to regular inside defender with the Pats, grading out as the No. 5 cornerback in the league last year, per Pro Football Focus. For what it’s worth, they weren’t quite as fond of his 2021 performance to date, viewing his work as barely top-100 worthy.
Jones, whose $7MM-per-year Pats extension runs through 2022, will have some time to get healthy in advance of his walk year. He’s set to collect a $5.4MM base salary next year while carrying a cap hit of $8.2MM.
In the meantime, the Patriots will move forward with J.C. Jackson, Jalen Mills, Joejuan Williams, and Myles Bryant as their CBs. They could circle back to some of their recently-auditioned cover men like Brian Poole, D.J. Hayden, and De’Vante Bausby, but they’d ideally like to have Shawn Wade return to the lineup. Wade missed Sunday’s win over the Jets with a concussion but could be ready in time for the Chargers on Halloween.
Two years ago today, Michael Bennett‘s brief stint with the Patriots came to an end. On October 24, 2019, the veteran defensive end was traded to the Cowboys for a conditional late-round draft pick. 
Following a 2018 campaign with the Eagles where Bennett compiled nine sacks in 16 games, the pass rusher (along with a 2020 seventh-rounder) was traded to New England for a 2020 fifth-rounder. The acquisition initially seemed like a win; while Bennett was forced to play more of a rotational role, he still managed to compile five tackles and 2.5 sacks in six games (one start).
However, in mid-October, Bennett was suspended by the Patriots for conduct detrimental to the team. The veteran reportedly clashed with Pats brass, and he had a lively argument with defensive line coach Bret Bielema.
“It’s America. You can voice your opinion about how you feel about certain situations. That’s what I did,” Bennett said following his suspension. “…I got suspended. Lost money. What am I supposed to take away from that? There’s no love lost. It’s just how it is.”
While Bill Belichick insinuated that Bennett never explicitly asked for a trade, the Patriots were quick to send him out. So, on this date last year, New England and Dallas pulled off the trade. The Patriots haul was reported as a seventh-rounder that could turn into a sixth-rounder. However, the real incentive was the $2.5MM in savings, especially since the Patriots were right up against the cap after acquiring wideout Mohamed Sanu.
With Tyrone Crawford succumbing to injury, the Cowboys were looking for some help on the defensive line. Bennett ended up being relatively productive for Dallas, collecting 27 tackles and four sacks in nine games. The deal also worked out for the Patriots; since Bennett ended up being on the Cowboys active roster for at least four games, the Patriots received a 2021 sixth-rounder instead of the 2021 seventh-rounder.
Bennett made it clear that he wanted to play in 2020 (especially for his former team, the Seahawks), but he didn’t draw much interest in the offseason. In July of 2020, he announced his retirement at the age of 34. All in all, he finished his career with 69.5 sacks in 156 games — not bad for a former undrafted free agent.
Chris Hogan left football behind earlier this year, opting to try lacrosse again. But he ultimately decided to play a 10th NFL season, signing with the Saints. One day away from his 34th birthday, the veteran wide receiver is stepping away from the game again.
After playing in five games with the Saints, Hogan is now on the team’s reserve/retired list. Hogan caught on with New Orleans just before the start of the season. He caught four passes for 41 yards, including his 19th career touchdown, as a Saint.
A four-year Bills contributor, Hogan will be best remembered for his mid-career run with the Patriots. Plucked by the Pats via an RFA offer sheet in 2016, Hogan played a key role for two Super Bowl champion squads. Hogan led the NFL with 17.9 yards per reception in 2016 and totaled 12 touchdown catches in three Pats seasons.
The Monmouth alum delivered when called upon in the playoffs with the Pats. The ex-lacrosse player caught nine passes for 180 yards and two scores in the 2016 AFC championship game, finishing with 332 postseason receiving yards for the Super Bowl LI champions. With the Pats down Julian Edelman and then Brandin Cooks, Hogan then added 128 yards in Super Bowl LII a year later.
Hogan spent the past three seasons with three different teams, suiting up for the Panthers, Jets and Saints. He suffered injuries in both the 2019 and ’20 slates, with knee and ankle maladies limiting him to 12 games over that period.
New England will be without its slot cornerback for at least three games. The Patriots moved Jonathan Jones to IR due to a shoulder injury.
The team is bracing for an extended Jones absence, according to ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss. It is unclear if a three-game break will be enough time, but Jones is down until at least Week 10 because of this transaction.
In his sixth season with the Patriots, Jones has worked his way from UDFA to regular inside defender with the team. Pro Football Focus slotted Jones fifth among all corners in 2020 but has not graded his 2021 performance nearly as well, viewing his work as barely top-100 worthy at the position. But Jones, whose $7MM-per-year Pats extension runs through 2022, will have some time to get healthy.
The Patriots worked out veterans Brian Poole, D.J. Hayden and De’Vante Bausby this week but did not sign them. Second-year cover man Myles Bryant is most likely to serve as Jones’ fill-in, Reiss adds. Late-summer trade acquisition Shawn Wade remains out due to a concussion.
In other Saturday Pats news, they promoted offensive lineman James Ferentz and defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale from their practice squad.
The Patriots will audition veteran cornerback Brian Poole today, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).
Poole signed with the Saints in July but later went on IR. The Saints cut him earlier this month and he has yet to play in 2021.
The Florida product joined the Falcons as a UDFA in 2016 and served as the club’s primary nickel corner over his three seasons. The Falcons opted not to tender him as a restricted free agent following the 2018 season, a year in which Pro Football Focus ranked him as just the No. 81 CB in the NFL out of 110 qualified players. He also ranked as bottom-three corner in success rate, per Football Outsiders’ charting data.
However, he bounced back over the last two years with the Jets. Operating primarily as a slot defender, Poole allowed a 71.6 passer rating in 2019 and a 64.7 rating in 2020. PFF gave him strong coverage grades in both seasons.
If signed, Poole would join a Pats group that currently includes J.C. Jackson, Jalen Mills, and Jonathan Jones, Shaun Wade, and Joejuan Williams.
Chase Winovich is out for at least the new few weeks. The Patriots placed the pass rusher on injured reserve today, reports ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter). New England signed defensive back Myles Bryant to take the open roster spot.
[RELATED: Trade Candidate: Patriots LB/DE Chase Winovich]
The 2019 third-round pick collected 11 sacks through his first two NFL seasons, but he’s seemingly remained in Bill Belichick‘s dog house. That’s been especially evident in 2021. After starting nine games for the Patriots last season, Winovich hasn’t started a single game through the first chunk of the season.
Further, Winovich only got into 71 defensive snaps through the first four games of the season, and that number was reduced to seven in Week 5 and zero in Week 6. So far this season, the 26-year-old has collected only seven tackles and one QB hit.
Bryant, a former undrafted rookie out of Washington, spent much of his rookie season with the Patriots organization. He ended up getting into nine games last season, collecting 12 tackles and one interception. He was waived at the end of the 2021 preseason and landed on the Patriots practice squad, although he’s already made a pair of appearances this season.