Bill Conaty signs with Patriots

[Dozerdog]

In an effort to bolster the depth of their interior offensive line, the Patriots signed former Buffalo Bills center Bill Conaty on Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Conaty spent all of his six NFL seasons in Buffalo, primarily as a backup. The 30-year-old former Virginia Tech All-American started 18 of his 67 career games, all but one at center. He started all 16 games for the Bills in 2001 but lost his job last year to free agent acquisition Trey Teague. Conaty played in 11 games for the Bills in 2002, mostly appearing on special teams.

Originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 1997, the 6-2, 300-pound Conaty battled his way onto the Bills active roster. He made his first career start as an extra tight end in the 1998 season finale at New Orleans when the Bills opened the game on the goal line following a turnover. In 2001, he was named to USA Today's “All Joe Team,” which recognizes “overlooked, ignored and hard-working” players....MORE...

[ryven]

thx for the heads up

[Pride]

Crap!

[ryven]

Well they got a player they really needed so I guess congrats to the pats but why did have to be conaty well that kind of sucks.

[BillsNYC]

do'h!

[Jan Reimers]

I think Conaty is a very serviceable backup who is our loss and the Patsies gain.

[HenryRules]

I think Conaty is one of those players that puts in a suprisingly mediocre performance when everyone expected a horrendous and as a result gets overrated by fans.

I have no doubt that Pucillo will do just as well as a backup as Conaty.

[Doc]

I had high hopes for Conaty given him high ranking among centers going into his senior season. He just never panned out and just got older while younger more promising guys got added to the roster. He'll be a serviceable backup for the Pats, but he probably won't start for them, and if he does, that's not a good thing for them.

[casdhf]

it's not a big deal, but I'm glad he caught on somewhere.