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When the news broke that Patriots starting offensive tackle Nate Solder would miss the remainder of the season after tearing his biceps during last week's win over the Dallas Cowboys, the roster move that instantly came to mind was replacing him with another offensive tackle. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.
According to various media reports (and first reported by ESPN's Field Yates), the Patriots have placed Solder on injured reserve and, as a corresponding roster move, claimed defensive back Rashaan Melvin off waivers:
Source: the Patriots have officially placed OT Nate Solder on IR and claimed former Ravens DB Rashaan Melvin off of waivers.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 14, 2015
Placing Solder on injured reserve was expected given earlier reports. Claiming Melvin wasn't. The 26-year old, who has played six games in two-plus seasons, was waived by the Baltimore Ravens yesterday. At 6'2", 192 lbs he instantly becomes the biggest cornerback on the team's roster and might be insurance policy should veteran Tarell Brown be unable to play on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.
With Solder on injured reserve, the Patriots have only two true offensive tackles on their roster - Sebastian Vollmer and Marcus Cannon - and are therefore prime candidates to sign another tackle soon. Especially when looking at the roster distribution: out of the 53 players signed, only 21 are classified as offensive players.
EDIT: The Patriots have made the two moves official.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="de"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Patriots?src=hash">#Patriots</a> have placed T Nate Solder on Injured Reserve & claimed CB Rashaan Melvin off waivers from Baltimore.</p>— New England Patriots (@Patriots) <a href="https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/654426394475106304">October 14, 2015</a></blockquote>
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