The New England Patriots bolstered their pass rush and backfield depth with the free agent signings of defensive end Adrian Clayborn and running back Jeremy Hill on Saturday.

The Patriots also announced the signing of veteran offensive tackle Matt Tobin.

Clayborn Caleb Sturgis Jersey , 29, played the past three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and is coming off a career-high 9 -sack season in 2017. The seven-year veteran has 30 sacks over 81 games with Atlanta and Tampa Bay.

New England had 42 sacks in 2017, tied for seventh-most in the NFL.

Hill, 25 Laken Tomlinson Jersey , is entering his fifth NFL season after spending his first four with the Cincinnati Bengals. A former second-round draft pick out of LSU, Hill played in only seven games in 2017 before suffering a season-ending ankle injury.

Over his first three seasons, Hill had 2,757 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns in 47 games.

Hill joins a Patriots backfield that includes James White Julian Edelman Jersey , Mike Gillislee and the recently re-signed Rex Burkhead, who was Hill’s teammate for three seasons in Cincinnati.

New England lost last season’s leading rusher Dion Lewis to Tennessee in free agency.

Tobin, 27, spent last year with the Seattle Seahawks after playing his first four NFL seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. The former Iowa standout entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

The addition of Tobin adds depth to a Patriots offensive line that lost long-time starting left tackle Nate Solder to the New York Giants in free agency.

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The stage is set for David Tepper to complete his purchase of the Carolina Panthers.

Tepper’s bid to buy the Panthers from Jerry Richardson was the first order of business at this week’s league meetings in Atlanta and it has been dispatched in short order. The finance committee approved the deal on Tuesday ahead of a vote by all of the league’s owners and the league announced on Tuesday afternoon that they have also given the deal the green light. The purchase was approved by a unanimous vote of the other 31 teams.

Tepper is set to pay $2.275 billion for the franchise Dion Jordan Jersey , which has been owned by Richardson since it entered the league as an expansion team for the 1995 season. Richardson put the team up for sale after allegations of workplace misconduct and settlements with employees for such misconduct became public late last year. Tepper addressed that briefly in a press conference Tuesday.

“I’m a person that believes in equality for everybody, men and women,” Tepper said, via Mark Maske of the Washington Post.

Tepper also said that the Panthers will remain in Charlotte and that he does not anticipate any big moves within the organization upon taking control of the team.

Tepper previously owned a piece of the Steelers Chris Ivory Jersey , which means he’d been vetted by the league before bidding on the Panthers and that helped make for a smooth trip through the approval process. The deal is expected to become official in July.

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