The Patriots on Thursday signed veteran punter Chris Hanson. Hanson, 30, has spent the majority of his seven-year NFL career with the Jaguars, although he played one game with the Packers in 1999. He was also signed by the Dolphins in 2000, but did not appear in a game.

The Patriots included a provision in Asante Samuel?s contract that will keep him from being franchised again next year if he?s on the field for a certain number of plays, or if the Pats win a certain number of games. The Patriots must have believed he?d leave town without signing the $7.79 million tender. Otherwise, it?s hard to see why they acquiesced on the 2008 franchise tag, since they seemingly had all the leverage. Samuel was in serious danger of losing $458,000 weekly game checks if his holdout lasted any longer.

New England Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel arrived at Gillette Stadium Monday morning and will reportedly sign a one-year, $7.79 million contract with the team. Samuel's plans to join his teammates were reported by several media outlets in New England after he had missed all of training camp and the first three preseason games. "Asante came to the facility this morning," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in a press conference Monday morning. "I spoke with him and he's going through the normal process that any player would go through at the beginning of camp in terms of getting his physical, taking a conditioning run and so forth. So that's where we are with that."

Cornerback Asante Samuel will report to Gillette Stadium this morning, ending his de facto holdout, a source close to the player confirmed last night. When Samuel arrives, which is expected to be prior to the team?s 8 a.m. meeting, he will sign the one-year, $7.79-million franchise tender and prepare for his fifth NFL season. The 26-year-old left his Florida home last night to fly to Boston. He has missed 31 days of training camp, though he has not amassed any fines because he was not under contract.

Randy Moss, the Patriots? prime acquisition on offense, missed his third preseason game last night against Carolina, while continuing to nurse the left hamstring injury that has sidelined him since Aug. 1. The question is, will he get into Thursday?s final preseason game against the New York Giants? More importantly, will he be available for the Pats? regular-season opener at the New York Jets on Sept. 9? While Tim DiPiero didn?t offer any definitive word on Moss? return, the agent who represents the wide receiver sounded encouraged about the possibility of seeing Moss against the Jets. ?I don?t know for sure, but I think it?s in the realm of possibility,? DiPiero said when asked about the likelihood of Moss playing in the season opener. ?He?s encouraged. He?s fine. He?s encouraged he?s going to be all right eventually. I think that?s how he felt from the get-go.?

Cross country flights, lack of sleep and becoming a celebrity father didn't affect Tom Brady's efficiency. Two days after Brady missed practice to fly to Los Angeles where his ex-girlfriend, actress Bridget Moynahan, gave birth to their son, Brady returned to the Patriots and was nearly flawless in New England's 24-7 exhibition win over the Carolina Panthers on Friday.

According to a report on the NFL Network - and confirming what a source close to Asante Samuel told the Herald more than a month ago - the cornerback is expected to sign his $7.79 million franchise tender this week and report to Foxboro to join his teammates. Samuel?s agent, Alonzo Shavers, stopped short of confirming the report, which he initially referred to as ?speculation.? ?I?m sure he?ll definitely be around in the near future,? Shavers said. ?I just don?t want to speculate because he hasn?t given me an inkling one way or another. I?m sure when he?s ready, he?ll tell me. He?s not given me the green light, so I can?t confirm or deny anything.?

It's a boy for Bridget Moynahan and Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady. The actress gave birth to the baby in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Moynahan's publicist Christina Papadapoulos said in a statement. "Both mother and baby are doing well," she said. Other details were not immediately released. Brady's whereabouts weren't known. He wasn't on the field or sidelines for the first 15 minutes of practice on Wednesday and Patriots spokesman Stacey James said he didn't know when Brady would rejoin the team.

Receiver Randy Moss spent some time at the game table in the locker room, mingling with his teammates while wearing a towel over his head. Moss, who hasn't practiced since pulling up in an Aug. 1 practice, declined to answer questions when asked at this locker.

Tom Brady finally opened up about the pending birth of his first child, and wanting to be there for the delivery. That is, if Bill Belichick allows him to escape for a few days. He also talked about a number of football-related items, like getting knocked all over the Gillette Stadium turf in Friday night?s preseason loss to Tennessee, admitting the offense still has a long way to go, and the impact of not having Randy Moss the past few weeks during his chatfest with the media yesterday. Obviously, the baby news got most everyone?s attention, as Brady first opened the door to the discussion by answering questions on his weekly session on the Dennis & Callahan morning show on WEEI, before getting hit with a barrage of inquiries in front of his locker later in the afternoon.