Karen Guregian reports newly-signed LB Bobby Carpenter sounded pretty pumped about being a Patriot on Sirius XM NFL Radio last night.

"I’ve always been a huge fan of Coach Belichick and the Patriots way of doing things," the former Cowboys first round pick said. "They were willing to bring me in and I couldn’t wait. I’m really excited be a part of the New England Patriots franchise and everything they stand for."

"By just about every measurable term, they’re maybe the most successful franchise of the last ten years," Carpenter said. "I don’t have the statistics right off hand, but I’d venture to say, they’ve won just as many if not more games, and been to five Super Bowls and won three, they’ve got that terrific quarterback, and terrific coaches. So, I don’t know really what else you could hope for as a player going to a team."

Christopher Price notes Sterling Moore had a whirwind 2011, from Oakland's practice squad to playing a major role in NE's secondary.

"I’ve sat back and had the chance to reflect on what we were able to do as a team. We clearly made a great run to get to the Super Bowl, and as a team, we wish it could have been a better outcome," he said. "But it was an up-and-down here for me. I feel like I definitely finished well, and I’m just trying to keep that momentum going into the offseason, and continue that going forward.

"As a secondary, I think we’re where we want to be right now. Personnel-wise, we took some heat last season, but at the end of the day, we know what we can do. We showed late in the season and into the playoffs, our defense, and the secondary in particular, can compete with opposing offenses."

"A lot of the training I’m doing now is footwork and technique and other positional drills, as opposed to the stuff we did last year, like the 40 times and the vertical jump," he said. "It’s a lot more of the stuff I’m doing on the field than the testing stuff. It’s a lot more fun — definitely different than what I did last season."

"Personally, I’m excited. I’m going in expecting to learn safety, as well as nickel corner and regular corner," said Moore, who said he’d be there when players are allowed to report to the facility on April 16. "I’m pretty sure it’ll be the same as it was last year — my mindset is to be ready to learn all three positions and contribute at all three if necessary."

TEAM TALK

• Patriots sign free agent LB Bobby Carpenter.
• Patriots Mock Draft Tracker: Find out what the experts are predicting the Patriots will do in the first round.
• PFW in Progress - The PFW crew talks about the Patriots and what's going on across the NFL. Adam Schefter joins them in the first hour. (2 hour program).

LOCAL LINKS

• Christopher Price thinks Bobby Carpenter faces an uphill battle for playing time, but he does have some positional versatility, playing in 3-4 and 4-3 base defenses.
• Mike Reiss says projecting where Bobby Carpenter will fit on the roster is a bit tricky.
• Mike Reiss notes the Patriots will play three preseason games in 10 days.
• Christopher Price notes the Patriots reportedly failed to tender Bret Lockett.
• Jeff Howe reports Gary Guyton will visit the Dolphins next week.
• Mike Rodak looks at some of the recent players picked at the 48th spot to give us a feel for the type of player the Patriots might draft with that pick.
• Jeff Howe thinks LB Dont'a Hightower (Alabama) could be a great addition to the Patriots even if he doesn't fill an immediate need.
• Tom E. Curran profiles potential Patriots in this year's draft: SS Mark Barron (Alabama).
• Jeff Howe thinks DE Whitney Mercilus (Illinois) could add a valuable pass-rushing dynamic to the Patriots' defense.
• Mike Reiss posts the transcript of his weekly online chat. Terrific insight here as usual.
• Karen Guregian Patriots Notebook: Pats signed Dallas FA LB Bobby Carpenter yesterday, for a depth position; Gary Guyton is expected to be moving on, as his playing time diminished with the emergence of Dane Fletcher; Guyton will be meeting with the Dolphins on Tuesday; One of the top draft prospects DL Michael Brockers (LSU) was spotted at Patriot Place and is presumed to be in town for a pre-draft visit.
• Jeff Howe answers his weekly Patriots mailbag: Rob Gronkowski, Vince Wilfork would pack middle of order if Pats fielded a baseball team.

NATIONAL NEWS

• James Walker (ESPN) Patriots add linebacker depth with Bobby Carpenter.
• Kevin Fishbain (Pro Football Weekly) Ridley expected to take reins in Pats' backfield.
• Marc Sessler (NFL.com) Williams after XLI: 'Payton wanted us to be aggressive'.
• Don Banks (SI) Ban Gregg Williams? Better yet, use him as the face of change.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Sapp calls Williams' comments "most heinous, egregious thing in history of this game."
• Michael Silver (Yahoo! Sports) Even before Gregg Williams' controversial speech, an NFL culture change was inevitable.
• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Bears add Jonathan Wilhite to cornerback mix.
• Jason Smith (NFL.com) Quarterback rankings: Eli Manning tops list heading into 2012.
• Gregg Doyel (CBS Sports) Publisher, leaker the ones who failed Claiborne's Wonderlic test.