2007 New England Patriots

The 2007 New England Patriots season is the 38th season for the team in the National Football League, and 48th season overall. They improved upon their 12-4 record in 2006 after finishing first place in the AFC East but losing to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game. In fact, the Patriots made history during the regular season, becoming the first team to go 16-0, and only the fourth to go undefeated and untied, along with the Chicago Bears (twice) and the 1972 Miami Dolphins. They also secured home-field advantage and a first-round bye.

Death of Marquise Hill
On May 28, Patriots defensive end and former second-round pick Marquise Hill died after a jetskiing accident the night before on Lake Pontchartrain, north of Hill's hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. Both Patriots players and management attended Hill's funeral on June 1, as well as Hill's former coach Nick Saban.

Coaching changes
A departure from previous offseasons, Bill Belichick's 2007 coaching staff remained generally unscathed. Wide receivers coach Brian Daboll left to become the quarterbacks coach for the New York Jets and was replaced by Director of Pro Personnel Nick Caserio. Former Duke University offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bill O'Brien was also hired as an offensive assistant. A former special teams contributor for the Patriots, linebacker Don Davis retired and joined the coaching staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach.

Departures
Free agency saw the departure of two 2006 starters for the Patriots, as tight end Daniel Graham signed with the Denver Broncos and linebacker Tully Banta-Cain signed with the San Francisco 49ers. Running back Corey Dillon, the Patriots' leading rusher in 2006, was released on March 2. Safety Tebucky Jones was also released early in the offseason. Another unorthodox departure came when punter Todd Sauerbrun signed with the Denver Broncos. When Sauerbrun was signed by the Patriots in December 2006, he agreed to a right of first refusal, meaning that the Patriots could match any offer by any other team made in the subsequent offseason. When the unrestricted free agent signing period came, the Broncos tendered Sauerbrun, but the Patriots exercised their right and matched the offer. However, the Broncos argued that the Patriots had never signed a separate document for the right of first refusal and ordered a hearing before an NFL special master. The Broncos won this hearing and Sauerbrun was allowed to sign with the Broncos. After spending all of training camp with the team, veteran punter Josh Miller was released on August 16.

Signings
The offseason brought the arrival of seven unrestricted free agents to the Patriots. Additions on offense were running back Sammy Morris, tight end Kyle Brady , and wide receivers Donté Stallworth and Kelley Washington. Additions on defense were linebacker Adalius Thomas and cornerbacks Tory James and Eddie Jackson. Other arrivals were Rashad Moore (New York Jets), Kenny Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Chad Brown (Pittsburgh Steelers) , Marcellus Rivers (New Orleans Saints) , and Chris Hanson (New Orleans Saints).

Free agents or potential free agents Heath Evans, Billy Yates, Larry Izzo , Rashad Baker, Gene Mruczkowski , Junior Seau , Randall Gay , Troy Brown , and Vinny Testaverde were all re-signed. Cornerback Asante Samuel was tendered the non-exclusive version of the franchise tag and signed it on August 28.

Trades
In the first week of free agency, the Patriots traded a second-round and a seventh-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins for wide receiver Wes Welker. A restricted free agent, Welker signed a five-year contract with the Patriots to complete the trade.

On the second day of the 2007 NFL Draft, the Patriots continued to add to their wide receiving corps by this time trading with the Oakland Raiders. A fourth-round pick in the draft was sent in exchange for wide receiver Randy Moss, who agreed to more than a $6 million USD pay cut.

During training camp, on August 7, the Patriots traded an undisclosed pick in the 2008 NFL Draft to the Chicago Bears for cornerback Dante Wesley.

2007 NFL Draft
The Patriots traded their original 5th round pick to the Oakland Raiders during the 2006 season for Doug Gabriel. They also traded Patrick Cobbs to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Ross Tucker to the Cleveland Browns prior to the 2006 season for late-round conditional draft picks, but neither players made their respective rosters, and the Patriots received no compensation.

Undrafted free agents
The Patriots signed 9 undrafted free agents following the draft. Quarterback Matt Gutierrez was the only to make the Patriots' roster to start the season. Linebacker Justin Warren, safety Denny Poland , and tight end Jake Nordin were all released before training camp , while linebacker Kyle Bissinger was released during the preseason after suffering an injury. Defensive back Larry Anam, wide receiver Chris Dunlap, running back Quinton Smith, and defensive lineman Zach West were all released after the preseason.