Patriots Just Put Interior O Line Competition On Notice

Could the experienced Greg Van Roten be the piece New England needs to bolster their offensive line for the upcoming season?

The Patriots added another name to their interior offensive line search on Thursday morning, hosting veteran guard Greg Van Roten on a visit in Foxborough, according to KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson.

Van Roten has been around the league long enough to know the drill. The 36-year-old has played in 144 NFL games and started 105 of them on the interior, with 51 straight starts in that stretch. He’s been a free agent since March after spending the last two seasons with the New York Giants, where he finished both years as the team’s ironman and set a career high with 1,150 offensive snaps in 2025.

His path to this point has been a long one. Van Roten entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Penn in 2012 and has since been with the Packers, Seahawks, Jaguars, Panthers, Jets, Bills and Raiders. He also spent time in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts.

At 6-foot-4 and 295 pounds, Van Roten has mostly worked at right guard, but he has also logged more than 2,000 snaps at left guard and center. The former All-Ivy League offensive tackle gives teams experience across the line, which is exactly the kind of depth clubs tend to sort through as camp moves along.

New England’s roster is full at 91 players, and the Patriots already have a crowded group in the interior mix with Alijah Vera-Tucker, Jared Wilson, Mike Onwenu, Ben Brown, Andrew Rupcich, Mehki Butler, Caedan Wallace, James Hudson, plus undrafted rookies Jacob Rizy and JonDarius Morgan.

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