Jonathan Casillas Traded to Patriots: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

In the 11th hour of Tuesday's 2014 NFL trade deadline, the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers agreed to a deal.    

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network has the details of the trade that sends Buccaneers linebacker Jonathan Casillas to New England:

The Patriots would later confirmed the news:

Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times detailed the package the Patriots gave up to acquire Casillas:

Field Yates of ESPN reported on a corresponding roster move following the trade:

This marks the second linebacker the Patriots have acquired in as many weeks, supplementing their move to trade for former Tennessee Titans standout Akeem Ayers.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick praised Ayers after his debut, which featured five combined tackles and a sack in New England's 51-23, Week 8 victory over the Chicago Bears, via ESPNBoston.com's Lee Schechter:

"

I think Akeem did a good job this week of coming in and getting acclimated to everything. I mean, new town, new team, new terminology -- there wasn't a whole lot of carryover from the system that he was in to the system that we run. I thought he did a real good job of making that transition playing in the kicking game, playing on defense and just getting the game plan, the scouting report. The whole transition was a lot in a few days. I think he handled it well, helped us in the game.

"

While Ayers made an immediate impact, Casillas' presence on the roster shouldn't be quite as significant. Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal explains in his analysis:

According to NFL.com's Marc Sessler, Rapoport had reported that the Bucs were open to moving much bigger names in wide receiver Vincent Jackson, running back Doug Martin and safety Mark Barron. The latter two were first-round draft choices in 2012, and Barron was indeed reportedly traded to the St. Louis Rams, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The trade deadline came and went without much noise, but the Bucs were certainly one of the most active teams around the league.

With a woeful 1-6 record, Tampa Bay appears to be clearing the decks and opening up as much space as possible to infuse the roster with talent for 2015 and beyond. In the Pats' case, their defense gains Casillas as insurance in the linebacker corps, which is without injured star Jerod Mayo due to a torn patella tendon.