Pats sign O'Neal; other moves too

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Pats hosting CB Deltha O'Neal

The Patriots are hosting free-agent cornerback Deltha O'Neal on a visit today at Gillette Stadium.
The visit was first reported by SIRIUS NFL Radio. The report has been confirmed by a source close to O'Neal.
The 31-year-old O'Neal would bolster a cornerback spot that currently included fourth-year veteran Ellis Hobbs, rookies Terrence Wheatley and Jonathan Wilhite, and nine-year veteran Lewis Sanders. The group was thinned on Saturday when the Patriots surprising cut veteran Fernando Bryant, who had been running with the first string throughout training camp.
O'Neal has played for the Broncos (2000-2003) and Bengals (2004-2007).


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The Patriots announced the signing of free-agent cornerback Delthea O'Neal this morning.
The team released tight end Stephen Spach to make room for O'Neal on the roster.
The Patriots also announced the signing of guard Jacob Bender and tight end Tyson DeVree to the practice squad, and confirmed that tight end Jason Pociask and offensive tackle Mark LeVoir were claimed on waivers. Pociask and LeVoir are now on the 53-man active roster.
Here is a bit more on O'Neal from the team's press release:
O'Neal, 31, is a two-time Pro Bowler in his ninth NFL season, having played in 116 games with 75 starts for the Denver Broncos (2000-03) and Cincinnati Bengals (2004-07). The 5-foot-11-inch, 194-pound cornerback has recorded 358 career tackles (289 solo), one sack, 31 interceptions for 403 yards and three touchdowns, 106 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. As a returner, he has totaled 57 kickoff returns for 1,274 yards (22.4 avg.) and a touchdown, and 136 punt returns for 1,368 yards (10.1 avg.) and two touchdowns. Last season with Cincinnati, O'Neal played in 16 games with eight starts and totaled 56 tackles (43 solo), one interception, 16 passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. O'Neal was originally drafted by the Broncos in the first round (15th overall) of the 2000 NFL Draft out of California-Berkeley. He earned his first career Pro Bowl berth in 2001 after finishing second in the AFC with nine interceptions, including an NFL record-tying four interceptions in a game against Kansas City on Oct. 7, 2001. O'Neal was traded to the Bengals on April 9, 2004 along with a first-round pick in the 2004 draft (24th overall) and a fourth-round pick in the 2004 draft (117th overall) in exchange for the 17th overall selection in the 2004 draft. In 2005, his second year with the Bengals, O'Neal returned to the Pro Bowl after setting a franchise record with a career-high 10 interceptions. O'Neal was released by the Bengals on Aug. 30, 2008.


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Okay...MAYBE I feel a LITTLE better about the secondary. MAYBE.
 
O'neal has stunk it up for the last few years..don't get too excited.
 
luso2kx said:
PAZ, you've seen our other corners, right?
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Yeah.:) I hear ya believe me I have a ray of hope that he gets that fountain of youth rebirth alot of otherwise tired looking players get when they come here but I remember seeing him the last few years and his wheels had slow leaks if not flat out flats. But here's hoping he helps!
 
I think we can have some hope given that his last team was the Bungels and it seems like at some point, even good players eventually fizzle out playing on that team. I posted on another thread about this a few days ago and said that O'Neal really didn't play well in 2006 and 2007, but 2005 was his career year which was only two seasons ago. If he can come in and learn the defense and play near what he did in 2005, he is definitely an upgrade over Hobbs/? at starter. Even if he doesn't play to his best, he's still probably better than Bryant and such, but hopefully he can get back to his better days now that he's on a quality team with real coaching, etc.
 
Didn't this guy return a punt for a TD against the Patriots in the 2003 season? I believe that was him, the intentional safety game against Denver is the game I am referencing here.
 
Possibly, I know he used to return punts and kicks when he played for Denver and was pretty good at it.
 
O'Neal: 1-year deal

Filling in some background on the Delta O'Neal contract, it is a one-year pact.
In addition to the opportunity to help a thinned cornerbacks corps and receive playing time, O'Neal also had expressed a desire to play with Rodney Harrison. O'Neal had enjoyed meeting Harrison at the 2001 Pro Bowl, so Harrison's presence on the roster was another catalyst for O'Neal to sign.


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I hope he can get up to speed by the Jets game. The opener is really like a bye week in disquise.
 
NewsBOT said:
Filling in some background on the Delta O'Neal contract, it is a one-year pact.
In addition to the opportunity to help a thinned cornerbacks corps and receive playing time, O'Neal also had expressed a desire to play with Rodney Harrison. O'Neal had enjoyed meeting Harrison at the 2001 Pro Bowl, so Harrison's presence on the roster was another catalyst for O'Neal to sign.


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If I met Rodney in person, I'd also want to be on the Pats roster too. Actually, even without meeting Rodney I want to be on the Pats roster. Okay, this was one of my dumber posts. Sorry for wasting your time.
 
Not that I've been following O'Neal's play closely over the years, but what I do recall of him is that he's a big time gambler, a la Samuel.

luso2kx said:
Duane Starks part deux? :Eason:
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From BB's lips to your ears....

"He is a very athletic corner, good ball skills, pretty big guy who goes up and plays a lot of press coverage, has done that in the past. Physical player. Good tackler."

Doesn't sound like Starks to me. woohoo




EDIT: Here's some interesting tidbits concerning O'Neal and our own Tom Brady:

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/patriots/index.php/2008/09/01/brady-and-oneal/
Tom Brady and Deltha O’Neal have an interesting history. They hail from the same part of California, Brady said today, and the QB followed O’Neal’s career at Cal. Also, Brady was working on the longest streak without an interception to start an NFL career (162 passes) until O’Neal and the Broncos interceded in 2001.

Though Denard Walker became the first DB to pick off Brady, O’Neal wasn’t far behind. The two each intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter of a 31-20 Broncos victory on Oct. 28, 2001.

“Yeah, I remember. Very well,” Brady said. “I threw four picks in the second half — four in the fourth quarter. He made a diving catch that was pretty awesome. You don’t want to mess around too much with him. He’s got great ball skills. In college he could do everything — receiver, return kicks. Hopefully he can add some of that athletic ability to our team.”
 
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