Patriots reportedly sign veteran offensive lineman Greg Van Roten

The New England Patriots are reportedly alleviating a banged-up offensive line with some much-needed depth. 

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Patriots are signing veteran guard Greg Van Roten — giving New England an immediate boost when it comes to an established backup on the depth chart. 

New England will need to make a corresponding roster move in order to add Van Roten, 36, to the roster.

Van Roten is a proven player in the NFL, having logged 105 career starts and 144 total games over 11 seasons. He started all 17 regular-season games in each of the previous three seasons with the Raiders (2023) and Giants (2024, 2025).

Van Roten is expected to serve as New England’s backup guard behind both Alijah Vera-Tucker and Michael Onwenu. 

The reported signing of Van Roten should be a welcome sight for a New England O-line that was taking on water due to the injury bug. 

The Patriots have been linked to Van Roten this summer, as the former Penn standout visited New England for an official workout earlier this month. 

New England boasts two stout starting guards in Alijah Vera-Tucker and Mike Onwenu. But things could unravel in a hurry if injuries sprout up — especially for a talented player who has already missed significant time in his career, like Vera-Tucker.

Prior to Monday’s reported signing, things appeared to be dire on New England’s O-line depth chart. 

During New England’s preseason opener against the Colts on Thursday, Ben Brown — the Patriots’ top depth option at both center and guard — suffered a leg injury that will sideline him for weeks, according to Mike Vrabel. 

Another backup guard, Andrew Rupcich, also suffered an injury against the Colts that eventually led to New England placing him on season-ending injured reserve over the weekend. 

Since that game against Indy, the Patriots’ top backup guards had been James Hudson III, Mehki Butler, Darrian Dalcourt, and JonDarius Morgan — with Vrabel acknowledging on Monday that the team might have to give 2026 first-round pick Caleb Lomu some snaps at guard moving forward. 

“You certainly could,” Vrabel said Monday asked if a tackle like Lomu might need to shift inside at guard. “I think we just, what happens is, where do you feel like he can make the most strides, and you don’t want to derail the improvement that he’s making and some of those things. And so I’m probably much like you guys and say, “Hey, that it’s not that big of a deal to go from tackle to guard.”

“I’ve got a lot of coaches that probably think differently than what you guys and maybe me think, and that it’s a little bigger deal, but I think Caleb’s been working hard. He’s been trying to improve, but I think at some point we will need to do that as well, and that’s just trying to be fair to the kid and the player as he’s developing and learning this game and this league, and then at some point in time probably have to take a look in there.”

With the reported addition of Van Roten, the Patriots should have the ability to keep Lomu at his usual spot at tackle while still shoring up that spot on the roster moving forward. 

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.