The Patriots announced that they have signed guard Donald Thomas.
A 2008 third-round pick out of UCONN by the Miami Dolphins, the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Thomas suffered a Lisfranc foot injury in his NFL debut and spent the rest of his rookie season on injured reserve. Thomas started 12 of 16 games in 2009 before cutting him last September. Thomas was signed by the Detroit Lions last November, but he did not appear in any regular season games and was released earlier this month.
With center Dan Koppen expected to miss six-to-ten weeks with a left ankle injury, guard Dan Connelly is moving to center, depleting the team’s depth at the guard position.
To make room for Thomas, the Patriots had waived Thomas Welch on Tuesday.