One day after Decker announces his retirement, Pats release veteran WR
FOXBORO – The New England Patriots announced Monday that they released WR Eric Decker and DB Eddie Pleasant.
Decker, 31, was signed by the Patriots on August 3. He is a veteran of eight NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos (2010-13), New York Jets (2014-16) and Tennessee Titans (2017).
The 6-foot-3, 214-pounder originally entered the NFL as a third-round draft pick (87th overall) of Denver out of Minnesota in the 2010 NFL Draft. Decker signed with the Jets as an unrestricted free agent in 2014. After three seasons with the Jets, he was released in June of 2017 and spent last season with Tennessee.
Last year with the Titans, Decker played in 16 games with eight starts and finished with 54 receptions for 563 yards with one touchdown. He played in both postseason games with one start and posted eight receptions for 106 yards and one touchdown.
During his eight NFL seasons, Decker has accumulated 439 receptions for 5,816 yards and 53 touchdowns in 111 games with 83 starts. He registered three 1,000-yard seasons with 1,064 receiving yards in 2012, 1,288 yards in 2013 and 1,027 yards in 2015. In addition, he has returned 25 kicks for 628 yards. Decker has also played in seven postseason games with six starts and tallied 22 receptions for 301 yards and one touchdown.
Pleasant, 29, was signed by the Patriots on July 24. He is a veteran of six NFL seasons with the Houston Texans after originally joining the team as a rookie free agent out of Oregon in 2012.
The 5-foot-10, 210 pounder, began his career on the Houston practice squad before being signed to the 53-man roster for the final two games of the season. Pleasant has played in 78 regular-season games with one start and has 86 total tackles, 2½ sacks, three interceptions, 17 passes defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and 24 special teams tackles.
In addition, he has played in five postseason games and has posted four tackles and two fumble recoveries.
Last season, Pleasant played in all 16 games with Houston and finished with 27 total tackles, two sacks, one interception, one forced fumble and five special teams tackles.
Also Monday, the Patriots announced they signed RB Kenneth Farrow, WR K.J. Maye and RB Khalfani Muhammad.
Farrow, 25, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with San Diego out of Houston in 2016. The 5-foot-9, 219-pounder played in 13 games with two starts as a rookie and totaled 60 rushing attempts for 192 yards and 13 receptions for 70 yards.
He sat out the 2017 season on injured reserve and was released by San Diego on April 13, 2018.
Maye, 24, was last on an NFL team with New England during training camp in 2017.
He was released prior to the start of the regular season. The 5-foot-8, 191-pounder originally signed with the N.Y. Giants as a rookie free agent out of Minnesota on May 6, 2016. He was released by the Giants at the end of training camp and joined the Tennessee Titans practice squad on Dec. 28, 2016. He was released by Tennessee on May 19, 2017.
Muhammad, 23, originally entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick (241st overall) by Tennessee out of California in the 2017 NFL Draft.
The 5-foot-7, 174-pounder spent the majority of his rookie season on the Titans practice squad. He has not appeared in an NFL game and was released on April 30, 2018.