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The New England Patriots replace their starting center with... a cornerback. When the Patriots placed second-year center Bryan Stork on injured reserve with a designation to return to game action after eight weeks, it opened up a roster spot. That spot has quickly been filled, according to the team:
The New England Patriots announced today that they have signed DB Justin Coleman to the 53-man roster from the Seattle practice squad. The Patriots also placed OL Bryan Stork on injured reserve with a designation to return.
Coleman, a 5'11" cornerback out of Tennessee, was originally signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted rookie free agent following the 2015 NFL Draft. After the Vikings released him, he signed with the Patriots on September 4th only to be released the following day. The plan was to sneak the 22-year old to the team's practice squad but he opted to sign with Seattle's instead.
Now, Coleman is back in New England after the Patriots' signed him off of the Seahawks' practice squad. Due to that, he counts against the team's roster for the next three weeks, no matter if cut tomorrow, and is also on the payroll for that period of time.