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By now, the story is well known. The Patriots' secondary was one of the team's strengths in 2014. Led by Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, the cornerback position was a key to this. One year later, things look different. Both Revis and Browner, as well as slot corner Kyle Arrington, are no longer with the team.
Malcolm Butler is the undisputed number one at the position right now, but behind him the Patriots' cornerback depth chart looks rather thin. Logan Ryan, Justin Coleman and Rashaan Melvin are the only pure corners on the team's current roster after New England placed veteran Tarell Brown on injured reserve last week.
Naturally, the position – even though Butler and Ryan have played well in recent weeks – can be upgraded. It seems as if the Patriots' front office thinks the same as the team has brought in free agent/retired cornerback Cortland Finnegan for a workout today:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="de"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pats?src=hash">#Pats</a> worked out Cortland Finnegan today, a source said. Despite announcing his retirement in March, he's open to a return to the field.</p>— Rand Getlin (@Rand_Getlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rand_Getlin/status/656903650548183040">October 21, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="de"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Patriots?src=hash">#Patriots</a> didn't sign Finnegan today, but given his willingness to consider opportunities, he'll be worth monitoring moving forward.</p>— Rand Getlin (@Rand_Getlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rand_Getlin/status/656903994489487360">October 21, 2015</a></blockquote>
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The 31-year old originally announced his retirement in March but apparently is open to return if the situation is right. Will it be in New England? Hard to tell because, on the one hand, the Patriots are relatively thin at the cornerback position but, on the other, they seem to trust their top guys.
An injury could change everything, though, and working out Finnegan shows that the Patriots are considering all the possible options to not leave the team's quest to repeat as world champions up to health.