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The New England Patriots were in communication with an AFC East rival on Friday.
The result, as first reported by ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques and Adam Schefter, is the acquisition of center Russell Bodine from the Buffalo Bills.
Bodine, 27, is the third offensive lineman New England has acquired this week, following tackle Korey Cunningham via the Arizona Cardinals and Jermaine Eluemunor via the Baltimore Ravens on Wednesday.
Entering as a fourth-round pick in the 2014 NFL draft, Bodine spent four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before signing a two-year pact with Buffalo in March 2018.
The 6-foot-3, 308-pound Bodine, a North Carolina product, has started all 74 games he has appeared in. A fractured fibula ended Bodine’s 2018 campaign on the Bills’ injured reserve in December after 10 starts.
The Patriots will send a sixth-round pick to the Bills in exchange for Bodine, according to the NFL transaction wire.