In addition to trading veteran OL Russ Hochstein, the New England Patriots signed third-round draft pick LB Tyrone McKenzie and released veteran S Tank Williams, the team announced Tuesday. The team also waived backup TE Tyson DeVree earlier this week.

McKenize, 6-2, 240 pounds, was drafted by the Patriots in the third round (97th overall) out of South Florida. McKenize played in 49 games with 36 starts during his collegiate career at Michigan State, Iowa State and South Florida. He played in 11 games at Michigan State as a true freshman in 2004 before transferring to Iowa State in 2005. After playing for Iowa State in 2006, he transferred to South Florida for his final two collegiate seasons.

McKenzie suffered a torn ACL in a post-draft minicamp and is expected to miss the entire 2009 season.

According to a league source, McKenzie signed a four-year, $2.381 million deal that includes a signing bonus worth $631,000. McKenzie could make an additional $743,000 in escalators, which would max the deal to a total value of $3.124 million.

Williams, 6-2, 223 pounds, was signed by the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent from Minnesota in 2008. He originally entered the NFL as a second-round draft pick by Tennessee out of Stanford in 2002. After a four-year career with the Titans, Williams spent two seasons with Minnesota before joining the Patriots. Williams missed the entire 2008 season with a knee injury suffered in the preseason-opener. During his seven NFL seasons, Williams has started 59 of 70 games and has 303 total tackles and five interceptions.

With the versatile Hochstein gone, this will give rookie OL Rich Ohrnberger a chance to win one of the top guard jobs this season.

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