Stephen Neal Retires: An Updated Look at the New England Patriots' Draft Plans

This article debuted on SportsHaze.com/Boston

New England Patriots guard Stephen Neal will officially announce his retirement from football tomorrow. The 10-year veteran is hanging up his helmet after playing his entire career in New England.

To label Neal an undrafted free agent wouldn't do justice to his story. He was a collegiate wrestler at Cal-State Bakersfield and won the NCAA heavyweight title in his senior year. Despite not playing a single snap of football in college, the Patriots still offered him a tryout in their 2001 training camp.

New England recognized Neal's athleticism and wanted to see if the 6'4", 300-pounder could translate his obvious athletic abilities onto the football field. He was signed and waived and then signed again in 2001, ending the season on the team's practice squad.

Neal's early career was full of unfortunate circumstances. He broke into the starting lineup in 2002, only to suffer a season-ending shoulder injury, which kept him from seeing the field again for two seasons. He eventually reclaimed his health and his starting role in 2004, helping the team win its third Super Bowl in four seasons.

The 34-year-old's retirement directly affects the teams offseason plans considering they have two starters from last years offensive line under contract in Dan Koppen and Sebastian Vollmer. The Patriots elected to use the Franchise tag on Logan Mankins and Matt Light remains a free agent. Mankins is unlikely to sign his tender and the team may not have interest in retaining Light.

With six selections in the first three rounds, New England could choose to address their line needs in the Draft, but also have in-house options available.

Dan Connolly filled in admirably at left guard during Logan Mankins' holdout, which lasted into Week 8 of the season. He very well may be the team's starter in 2011.

Quinn Ojinnaka (restricted free agent), Rich Ohrnberger (a fourth-round pick in 2009), and Ryan Wendell (an undrafted free agent in 2008) could also be given a look at one of the guard slots.

New England's options are a bit thinner at tackle. Nick Kaczur has started 62 games since 2005, but spent the entire 2010 season on IR and recently refused to take a paycut making him a candidate for release. Mark LeVoir could also be an option; he was an undrafted free agent who signed with the team in 2008.

Other long shot names to keep in mind are Thomas Austin and Steve Maneri, who signed future contracts with the team following the 2010 season.

Neal's retirement can't come as that much of a surprise to the Patriots considering his age and health issues, but the announcement causes a lot of uncertainty for a very important position. Now possibly in need of an offensive line revamp, the team will have to turn its focus to finding a competent replacement which won't be the easiest thing to do.