The New England Patriots have re-signed four players and signed former Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Al Johnson, the team announced Monday.
Offensive lineman Wesley Britt, safeties Ray Ventrone and Tank Williams and defensive tackle Mike Wright all were re-signed by the Patriots.
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Terms of the deals weren't disclosed. All five players figure to compete for backup and special-teams roles.
Wright, 27, will enter his fifth season with the Patriots. He has played in 54 games with seven starts since being signed as an undrafted rookie free agent from the University of Cincinnati in 2005.
Over his first four NFL seasons, Wright had 83 tackles, four sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Last season, Wright played in every game and started twice at defensive end in place of an injured Ty Warren, recording a career-high 2.5 sacks while totaling 28 tackles and two fumble recoveries.
Williams, a veteran of seven NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans (2002-05), Minnesota Vikings (2006-07) and Patriots (2008), has started 59 of 70 career games. He has 283 career tackles, 3.5 sacks, five interceptions, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Williams was signed by the Patriots as a free agent prior to last season, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason opener and spent the entire season on injured reserve.
Both Britt and Johnson look to supply experienced depth to a veteran offensive line.
Johnson is a veteran of six NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys (2003-06), Arizona Cardinals (2007) and Dolphins (2008). Johnson has played in 66 career games with 45 starts at center. He played in four games for Miami last season, seeing reserve action at both guard and center.
Britt has played in 16 career games with two starts, all with the Patriots from 2006 to 2008. He originally was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fifth round (164th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft out of Alabama.
