Bradham has been durable, not missing any games due to injury. He played in 100 percent of the snaps in every playoff game and in 11 regular season games.

He did a very good job of setting the edge, providing a sorely needed ability at rushing the passer and was decent dropping into coverage, an issue that plagued the Patriots’ linebackers all year.

LB Shea McClellin, who had been on IR since the end of preseason, had suffered a setback in his return and now he too will be likely lost for the season.

In a media workroom packed with family, teammates, coaches, owners and the Patriots media beat writers, Rob Ninkovich retired in an emotional ceremony that celebrated his Patriots career.

Having Hightower back and healthy this summer was a huge plus for the team. I’d look for the Patriots to limit his reps this summer and in preseason

The 33-year old inside linebacker spent 10 very productive seasons with the Jets before being released recently in a salary cap dump.

Anderson performed well in the Crimson Tide’s defense logging 61 tackles including 19 for a loss along with 9 sacks in 2016.

The Patriots made their biggest move of an already busy free agent season by re-signing LB Dont’a Hightower to a 4-year deal worth $43.5 million.

In both Super Bowl LI and XLIX, Hightower made big plays at crunch time to allow the Patriots to escape with the victory.

The Patriots landed the uber-athletic Mingo for a 5th round draft pick during the end of August in 2016. Mingo was a former 1st round draft pick #6 overall

The Patriots unquestioned best linebacker and arguably their most indispensable player on the front seven is Hightower

“These guys have got a couple months on me. It’s a challenge, but the guys here are really helping me come along, just get me ready to play.”

The Patriots have two of the best LBs in the business with Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower. But each missed time in 2015 and the depth was a problem.

But perhaps the most intriguing signing was LB Shea McClellin. Because there exists a big question on just how the team plans on utilizing his strengths.

NFL Network’s Willie McGinest was asked to rate the top five linebacker units in the league and not surprisingly, he gave the Patriots high marks.