Raiders Release LaMont Jordan, 24 Hours Later He's a Patriot

You know, I was wondering when the Patriots would get around to finding Corey Dillon's replacement. The answer, it seems, is "today." Via PFT, New England signed recent Raiders cast off LaMont Jordan, which, presumably, must make Laurence Maroney very happy.

Early in Bill Belichick's Patriots career, he'd sign Steelers rejects and they would magically revitalize their careers (relatively speaking, anyway). Mike Vrabel is the most obvious example, but Chad Scott and Hank Poteat also had a little success in New England.

Now, though, the Patriots Revivification Pipeline runs through Oakland. Sure, Doug Gabriel was a bust, but the Randy Moss-for-a-fourth-rounder worked out okay. And now, New England gets Jordan for peanuts (one-year deal, and although I don't have the details, I'll take a leap of faith and assume it was very affordable). Not too shabby for one of the most sought-after free agents just a few years ago.

As for what this means for New England's depth chart, well, I got nothing. The Boston Globe's Mike Reiss notes that currently, the Pats have Maroney, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, Heath Evans, Kyle Eckel and BenJarvus Green-Ellis at running back.

I suspect Jordan will share the load with Maroney and Morris, with Faulk remaining as the third-down/specialty back. But this is New England; it wouldn't shock me if Jordan ends up replacing Matt Cassel as the backup quarterback and also double as the starting cornerback.