Familiar faces are scattered across both sidelines when the Patriots and Seahawks meet Wednesday night at Lumen Field, and the roster overlap runs deeper than just a couple of brief stops along the way.
Four players in the mix for the 2026 season opener have spent time with both franchises during their NFL careers, a reminder that the paths between New England and Seattle have crossed in plenty of different ways. That group includes a veteran tight end in Seattle and three Patriots linemen and defenders who all have their own back-and-forth histories with the Seahawks.
On Seattle’s side, Eric Saubert is the clearest example of a player who has bounced around the league before settling in. The tight end has been part of 11 organizations since becoming Drake University’s first NFL draft choice in 34 years.
Selected No. 174 overall in 2017, Saubert began his career with the Atlanta Falcons before being traded to Gillette Stadium in 2019 for a conditional pick. That Patriots stop was brief, beginning and ending that August at the 53-man roster deadline.
Saubert eventually landed with Seattle in 2025 on a one-year deal, then picked up another one-year extension after being activated from injured reserve last December. He has played in 112 regular-season games with 24 starts, catching 51 passes for 420 yards and three touchdowns, and he added two starts during the Seahawks’ latest playoff run.
New England’s group includes a pair of guards and a pass rusher with Seattle ties. Ben Brown is back on the Patriots’ 53-man roster after being released as last week’s NFL deadline settled and then quickly returning after the procedural move.
Brown signed a contract extension in December. His career started with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2022 as an undrafted free agent, but a torn biceps in his preseason debut sent him to injured reserve for his entire rookie season.
After the Bengals waived him the next August, the Ole Miss product joined Seattle’s practice squad. From there, he moved up to the active roster that September, was waived and re-signed to the practice squad in October, and then was let go in November.
Later stops with the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders came before New England signed him off the Raiders’ practice squad and started him at center in Foxborough the same week in the fall of 2024. Brown, 28, has appeared in 27 games for the Patriots, with 14 starts split between center and guard, while logging 998 offensive snaps and 124 on special teams.
Greg Van Roten’s route to New England took a longer detour. The 36-year-old guard toured Foxborough in August, and as injuries piled up along the offensive line in the preseason, that visit turned into a contract.
He had been unsigned since the start of the new league year and is now on the reigning AFC champions’ 53-man roster. Van Roten has played in 144 NFL games and owns 105 starts.
The 2012 undrafted free agent out of Penn has also spent time with the Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills. His Seattle stint came in 2014, when he spent six months there before being released at the 53-man roster deadline and later moving to the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts.
Between guard and center, he has piled up 105 starts and finished the past two seasons having played 100 percent of the offensive snaps.
Dre’Mont Jones gives the Patriots another Seahawks connection, though his path came through the front seven rather than the line. New England reached a three-year deal with Jones as the official start of NFL free agency approached in March.
The 29-year-old edge rusher, who began his career as a defensive tackle, has appeared in 108 games with 69 starts. A third-round pick out of Ohio State in 2019 at No. 71 overall, Jones has totaled 253 tackles, 37.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and one interception.
He spent 2025 with the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens after a trade, and before that he played every game over two seasons with Seattle. His time with the Seahawks included 23 starts, 8.5 sacks and a safety before he was released entering the final year of a three-year contract.
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