Report: Patriots To Workout TE Visanthe Shiancoe

According to Steve Wyche of NFL.com, the New England Patriots will host veteran free agent tight end Visanthe Shiancoe for a visit and a workout on Thursday.

Shiancoe, 32, is a nine-year veteran of the NFL, having spent the last five seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. He was a third-round draft choice of the New York Giants back in 2003. His best season in the NFL came back in 2009, when he caught 56 passes for 566 yards and 11 touchdowns from then Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre. His numbers have declined considerably since then however.

The anticipated workout for Shiancoe leads me to believe that the Patriots are looking to build up depth at the tight end position while guys like Rob Gronkowski and Daniel Fells continue to rehab. Although, they could be doing their due diligence--as they did with Dallas Clark a few months back.

While he's proven a solid redzone threat on passing downs, his game digressed last year to just being used as an extra blocker. He reportedly turned down a one-year, $1.2 million contract from the Seahawks--so it's likely that he'll come cheap if the Patriots like what they see tomorrow.