Patriots add depth to offensive line with Brian Schwenke

The Patriots have signed free agent offensive lineman Brian Schwenke.

Schwenke is a 27-year-old who has spent five seasons in the league, all of them with Tennessee. He’s played center and left guard along the way, appearing in 57 regular-season games and starting 30. The 6-foot-3, 318-pounder out of Cal joins a crowded picture along the interior of New England’s offensive line, one that includes right guard Shaq Mason, left guard Joe Thuney, and center David Andrews.

The Patriots released tight end Shane Wimann to make room for Schwenke.

BSJ analysis: Why make this move?


With Mason, Thuney, and Andrews, New England has one of the stoutest interior offensive lines in the league. You potentially add a versatile puzzle piece like rookie Isaiah Wynn to the mix, and you would think Schwenke is a bit extraneous.

But given Schwenke’s background and his injury history — he has battled foot, knee and ankle issues over the last few years — this addition appears to be made in hopes of seeing if he could play, as well as creating a little competition along the interior. The Patriots love their versatile offensive linemen, and as a result, Schwenke could maybe challenge the likes of Teddy Karras, who is a similarly framed lineman with the same sort of multifaceted background. (The trade-off? While Karras has more time in the system, Schwenke has a more polished resume as a part-time starter over the last five years.)