The New England Patriots’ interior offensive line depth suffered a blow during the preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts, prompting the club to look for alternatives. They signed three players in total, with one of them standing out among them: Greg Van Roten, a veteran of 12 NFL seasons and a player who very well could find himself on the 53-man roster come the regular season.
For the Patriots, signing Van Roten made plenty of sense. Not only does he bring immense experience to a backup
group lacking just that following the Ben Brown and Andrew Rupcich injuries, he also has familiarity with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels after the two overlapped in Las Vegas in 2023.
“There is a lot of carry-over,” Van Roten told reporters following the Patriots’ final practice of training camp on Tuesday. “Really just a matter of forgetting some of the things that aren’t the same, and trying to re-learn some of the things because I was with Josh in 2023. So, it’s been a few years. But the system is similar. It’s just everyone has little kind of idiosyncrasies and nuances to how they want things done.”
The familiarity between Van Roten and the Patriots does not end with McDaniels and his system. The 36-year-old, who is now the oldest player on the team’s roster, also has started alongside two of his new teammates before: Alijah Vera-Tucker and Morgan Moses, New England’s left guard and right tackle, respectively, were part of the New York Jets’ starting O-line alongside Van Roten in 2021.
For Van Roten, who is mostly a right guard but also has the versatility to play on the left side or line up at center, this preexisting connection helps with the transition.
“It’s huge just because you don’t have to make up so much time,” he explained. “We’ve had plenty of games together and years together, so we have experience. We have our ways of communicating and just knowing — I know how Morgan’s going to set, I know how Alijah’s going to set, because we’ve had countless practices and games together.”
Van Roten signed with the Patriots earlier this month, but it was not the first time the two sides had already touched base. He was in Foxborough for a free agency visit two weeks before officially putting pen to paper.
That visit gave him a first glimpse of the Patriots’ new facilities and allowed him to reconnect with some of the people he knows within the organization — a taste of what was to come.
“I have a lot of familiarity with players and coaches in the building, so it was a cool experience just kind of catching up with some people I haven’t seen in a long time,” he said. “And then being up here, I played a ton of games actually in New England over my career. I think it might be the one team I played the most. I have family that lives up this way in New England. It’s not home for me, but it’s not far off.”
Knowledge of New England as a team and a region is one thing, but the business side of the NFL also dictated where Van Roten ended up. And the Patriots made sure it was with them: they signed him to a one-year, $3 million contract well above the veteran’s minimum one could have projected for a player unsigned since March.
In Van Roten’s eyes, this speaks for itself.
“You want to go where you’re valued, and the Patriots valued me more than other teams,” he said. “It’s a great organization. It speaks for itself. I’ve had a rough couple of years with different teams, so I’m excited to be somewhere with the tradition that they have here.”
