Marques Douglas Heading to the Patriots?

Just monitoring rumors around the internet, and saw something interesting posted regarding Marques Douglas.  It's believed that the Patriots are interested in him, so I thought I'd tell my readers a little bit about him, so if you hear his name on Sportscenter in the coming days, you're not scratching your head saying "Who is this guy?"

Marques Douglas is something of an NFL journeyman, having made six stops to play for four different teams throughout his career including the Ravens three times!

After being signed to a one year deal as an undrafted free agent in 2000 by the Baltimore Ravens, Douglas took a few years to get into the swing of things.  He didn't really play his first year, and then signed with the Saints and didn't play there either, just getting on the field for one game.

The following year Douglas headed back to the team who signed him to his first contract, where he played the next four seasons, becoming progressively more and more a part of the defensive plan.  By 2003 this led Douglas to become a full time starter and well known run stopper for the Ravens, as he started 31 of the final 32 games he played for Baltimore (at least, in that time in Baltimore).

Douglas was then brought to San Francisco, by Mike Nolan as they were switching to a 3-4 and needed a solid locker room guy to help the transition.  He played his next three years there, having solid years.  He started all but one game as a 49er, and averaged 60+ tackles per season.

Marques Douglas would make a nice fit in New England, where he could play left end and help shut down the opposition's running game.  With several talented backs in the AFC East (Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, Shonn Greene, Fred Jackson, and Marshawn Lynch) the ability to shut down the run is critical for the Patriots.  Bringing a guy like this in would be a great move, and probably relatively inexpensive.  He made $745,000 last season, a number that would hardly make a dent and would provide some depth along the defensive line.

Several other teams have also expressed interest in Douglas, including Tennessee, Tampa Bay, and Carolina so you'll certainly be hearing his name in the near future, even if it's not with news of him headed to Foxboro.  However it might be, so now you know a bit about him.