Report: Patriots Sign WR Kenny Britt
BOSTON (CBS) -- Coming off a rough offensive performance on Monday night, the Patriots are adding a receiver.
According to ESPN's Field Yates, the Patriots on Tuesday were busy finalizing a contract with wide receiver Kenny Britt.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Britt's deal is for two years with New England.
Britt, 29, was released by the Browns last week. He cleared waivers, thus making him a free agent, able to sign with any team.
He caught just 18 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns in nine games for the winless Browns this season, after catching 68 passes for 1,002 yards and five touchdowns last year.
A first-round draft pick in 2009 for the Tennessee Titans, Britt has caught 327 passes for 5,114 yards and 32 touchdowns in 113 games spread out over nine seasons.
Britt was suspended for a game in 2012 for a DUI, which was, according to reports, his eighth run-in with police in four years.
The receiver played collegiately at Rutgers under then-head coach Greg Schiano, as did current Patriots safeties Duron Harmon and Devin McCourty.
At 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, Britt caught nine touchdowns in just 12 games in 2010, his second season in the NFL. Last year marked his first time topping the 1,000-yard mark in a season.
How Britt fits into the offense will bear watching. Chris Hogan returned to the field Monday night after missing four weeks due to a shoulder injury, and he caught one pass (on five targets) for just one yard. Second-year receiver Malcolm Mitchell remains on injured reserve, and though the Patriots do have the option to activate one more player to the roster, it's unclear if Mitchell is close to being able to play.
The move marks the second straight season in which the Patriots have added a receiver late in the season. Last year in mid-December, the team claimed Michael Floyd off waivers following his release by the Cardinals after a DUI arrest. Floyd scored a touchdown in the Patriots' Week 17 win in Miami and also delivered a memorable block, but he was not on the same page with Tom Brady in a divisional round win against the Texans. Floyd was a healthy scratch for the AFC Chamionship Game and the Super Bowl.
