Reunion in New England: Patriots sign defensive end Trey Flowers

FOXBORO -- Trey Flowers is back where his NFL career began. The pass rusher has signed with the New England Patriots, the team announced Tuesday.

The Patriots drafted Flowers in the fourth round in 2015, and he developed into a key cog on New England's defense from 2016-2018. Flowers recorded 21 sacks over those three seasons and helped the Patriots win a pair of Super Bowl titles. His sack of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LI pushed Atlanta out of field goal range, allowing the Patriots to tie the game on their next possession before completing the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.

Flowers signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Lions during the 2019 offseason but was never the dominant pass rusher he was in New England. He had seven sacks in his first year in Detroit, but just 3.5 sacks over just 14 games his next two seasons. 

He was released by the Lions last March and signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins, but played in just four games for Miami before landing on IR in early October.

Bill Belichick called Flowers a smart player who competes well Tuesday afternoon, but added that Flowers won't be practicing right away for New England.

"We'll see how that goes," he said of the Flowers signing. "He hasn't played in a while."

Later on Tuesday, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that Flowers had been placed on the physically unable to perform list.

Now Flowers is back where it all began to give New England a little more depth on the defensive line. It will be interesting to see where the 29-year-old fits in the mix. Matthew Judon is the team's top pass rusher, and the Pats just drafted edge rusher Keion White in the second round to slot behind Deatrich Wise Jr. 

After signing Flowers, New England has one open roster spot.