offseason also brought the arrival of seven unrestricted free agents to the Patriots. On offense, the Patriots added running back Sammy Morris, tight end Kyle Brady, as well as wide receivers Donté Stallworth and Kelley Washington. On defense, they added Pro Bowl linebacker Adalius Thomas and cornerbacks Tory James and Eddie Jackson. Free agents or potential free agents Heath Evans, Billy Yates, Larry Izzo, Rashad Baker, Gene Mruczkowski, Junior Seau, Randall Gay, Troy Brown, and Vinny Testaverde were all re-signed. Defensive end Ty Warren also received a long-term contract extension. The Patriots used their non-exclusive franchise tag on cornerback Asante Samuel; Samuel signed it on August 28, with the stipulation that the team would not use it again on him when he became a free agent again after the season, after the two sides failed to reach a long-term contract agreement with the team by the July 16 deadline. During the preseason, on August 7, the Patriots traded an undisclosed pick in the 2008 NFL Draft to the Chicago Bears for cornerback Dante Wesley, but since Wesley was cut, the Bears did not receive that pick. 2007 NFL Draft The Patriots traded their original fifth-round pick (#165 overall) to the Oakland Raiders during the 2006 season for Doug Gabriel. They also traded Patrick Cobbs to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Ross Tucker to the Cleveland Browns prior to the 2006 season for late-round conditional draft picks, but neither players made their respective rosters, so the Patriots received no compensation. Staff Opening training camp roster As of the Patriots’ first training camp practice at Gillette Stadium on July 27, they had the NFL maximum of 80 players signed to their roster. First-round pick Brandon Meriweather, who was not signed until after training camp began, did not count against that limit until his signing. Asante Samuel also did not count against the limit, as he had not signed yet signed his franchise tag tender and was not in training camp. Finally, the Patriots received five total roster exemptions for the NFL Europa allocations of Brian Barthelmes, Danny Baugher, and Tom Malone (one for each player, plus two bonus exemptions because of the time Baugher and Malone spent on practice squads in 2007). Schedule Preseason Regular season Week 1 roster Regular season results Week 1: at New York Jets In the Patriots’ fourth matchup with the Jets in 20 games, head coach Bill Belichick