If his injury is this bad, and they are desperate for the roster space, they will reach an injury settlement. This will free up the roster spot and make Bruschi a Free Agent. If his knee is better in 4 weeks and the Patriots are in the playoffs, he gets re-signed for the Playoff run.
If the Patriots don't make the playoffs, Bruschi would be free to sign with whatever team is in the playoffs (NY Giants if Antonio Pierce gets suspended ???).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought putting a player on IR removed them from the 52-man roster, thus freeing up a spot. That is basically the point of putting them on IR, otherwise you'd just keep them around. I guarantee that Bruschi is not getting released right now.
So anyone know what Roman Pfifer is up to nowadays? I think the Patriots only option is to promote from internally. I don't know how serious Redd's injury is but hopefully he is ok to play. Otherwise maybe someone on the PS gets called up.