Patriots Bring Back a Familiar Face Into the Fold

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2 months ago at 10:46 am ET

Greg M. Cooper - USA TODAY Sports

After visiting with the team on Monday, it looks like the Patriots are adding Trey Flowers back into the fold.

The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday that the New England Patriots and their former defensive end agreed to terms on a contract, bringing Flowers back to where he started.

Flowers was originally drafted by the Patriots in Round 4 of the 2015 NFL Draft, with the former Arizona standout playing with the team until he left via free agency to Detroit in 2019.

Flowers last visited the club in March but didn’t land a new deal, with the former Patriot remaining available as he continued looking for his next opportunity.

Flowers was originally drafted by the Patriots in Round 4 of the 2015 NFL Draft, with the former Arizona standout playing with the team until he left via free agency to Detroit in 2019.

Injuries have been an issue for Flowers in recent years, with the veteran having ended up on injured reserve in each of the last three seasons.

Some will remember one of his more notable moments where he made a big fourth quarter sack in Super Bowl LI against Atlanta as the Patriots trailed 28-20 with just under four minutes left in regulation.

On the play, Flowers burst up the middle and overpowered Falcons center Alex Mack, dropping Matt Ryan on a 2nd-and-11 for a huge loss of 12-yards. That play kept the Falcons from potentially moving the chains and maybe even kicking a field goal, which would have possibly sealed it.

Instead, tackle Jake Matthews was called for offensive holding on the next play, putting Atlanta in 3rd-and-33 as Matt Ryan then threw incomplete to Taylor Gabriel.

From there, the Falcons punted away the football to New England, who then took it 91-yards the other way on 10 plays (which included the unbelievable catch by Julian Edelman for 23-yards), with James White finishing the drive off with a 1-yard touchdown run to knot the score at 28-28 after Danny Amendola hauled in the two-point conversion.

We all know how that one ended.

He won two rings in a Patriots uniform and certainly put together a nice career for himself up to that point.

Whether or not he’s got anything left appears to be the question, which will be something everyone will be keeping an eye on now that he’s back here in New England.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Portions of the above appeared in this morning’s Patriots News and Notes column.)