Taylor to sign with New England

Fred Taylor’s run into the sunset took him straight to New England.

After visiting Buffalo and New England this week, Taylor decided to sign with the Patriots.

The agreement has been reached, Taylor is headed back to New England. After playing his first 11 NFL seasons with Jacksonville, he now is expected to finish his career as a Patriot.

Taylor joining Patriots as free agent

The New England Patriots addressed their need for depth at running back on Thursday evening, reaching an agreement in principle with free agent Fred Taylor.

Jaguars RB Fred Taylor topped the 11,000 yard mark in a win over the Lions in Week 10.

Taylor, an 11-year veteran, was released by Jacksonville last week for salary cap reasons, after playing his entire career with the Jaguars. The 33-year-old was scheduled to earn a base salary of $6 million in 2009 and was also due a $1 million bonus in coming weeks.

Taylor agreed to a two-year, $5 million contract that pays him $3 million in 2009 and $2 million next season.

"I have tremendous respect for Fred Taylor, both as a person and as a player whose production is outstanding," Patriots coach Bill Belichick. "I look forward to working with Fred as he joins the rest of our running back group."

The addition of Taylor provides the Patriots a veteran back who could battle fourth-year veteran Laurence Maroney for the starting job. It also continues the Patriots' recent tradition of adding veteran backs to bolster their depth chart.

Last season, New England signed veteran LaMont Jordan as a free agent, and before that it was Corey Dillon , who gave the Patriots experience in production at running back before his release. The New England roster also features much-traveled veteran Sammy Morris, who has been effective for the Patriots as a role player.

Maroney, the team's first-round choice in the 2006 draft, has been anything but durable in his brief career, suffering through a series of injuries that have limited him to 30 games and 15 starts in three years. Taylor, however, has also been hampered by injuries over his career.

The 16th-leading rusher in NFL history with 11,271 yards and 60 touchdowns, Taylor visited on Wednesday with Buffalo Bills officials. At the time, there were strong indications Taylor would sign with the Patriots' AFC East rival. But the Patriots persuaded Taylor to leave Buffalo without a contract, and coach Bill Belichik's sales pitch proved effective.

Taylor, Jacksonville's first round pick in 1998, was a productive back for the Jaguars during his 11-year tenure. The former Florida star appeared in 140 games and was one of the most popular players in the community.

By releasing him, Jacksonville officials seemed to elevate Maurice Jones-Drew to their No. 1 running back and are currently negotiating a long-term contract with him.

Patiots Back to NFL Superbowl next Year

Back yeid now crazy

and Back to a Crazy madden Team

posted yesterday

Taylor is too old for this. He's 16th in rushing, just quit now. Retire and go back to florida.

BoSpOrTsFaN wrote:

posted yesterday

o my bad i didnt see it posted in the NFL section

but styll Fred taylor styl nice CJ

only 33 .. he can styll go to work

Kobe is 30
Shaq is 30 sumthin
Steve Nash is 30 sumthin

ed reed is 30
ray lewis is 33
randy moss is 32
Terrel Owens is 35

prolly nuff more mans that over 30s and can go to work

watch fred taylor gonna b a beast..
especially with that O-line

why r u bringin basketball into this? football and basketball are different. plus, Lewis plays D, so does Reed. T.O and Moss are WR's so they dont get hit as hard.

the past will be crazy now but i think they should of got a back with great speed well they can get one in the draft

Crenshawboi013 wrote:

why r u bringin basketball into this? football and basketball are different. plus, Lewis plays D, so does Reed. T.O and Moss are WR's so they dont get hit as hard.

yea basketball isn't a real compact sport compared to footbal, so basketball players can be in the league a much longer time. and i think shaq is 37

i kno its not as much contact

but styll i just tryin to do the age comparison thing

but i guess dont work