And there's the other domino.

With the signing of Ted Larsen, the team also announced the release of veteran CB Shawn Springs.

We'll have more in a bit on this, but this is a fairly surprising move, even if Springs was a healthy scratch for a few games there in the fall.

Springs was signed to a three-year, $10.5 million deal last offseason. He was the third overall pick in the 1997 draft by the Seahawks, and spent the five years before coming to Foxborough with the Redskins.

The Patriots do have a little of a logjam at cornerback, with first-round pick Devin McCourty joining incumbent starters Leigh Bodden and Darius Butler, and Jonathan Wilhite, Terrence Wheatley and Kyle Arrington also dotting the depth chart.