New England has announced that veteran OL Kendall Simmons has been released. The former first-round pick of the Steelers, who spent the first seven years of his career as a mainstay on Pittsburgh's interior line, suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in Week 4 last year but was signed to a three-year deal by New England in August.

However, he had been active for only two games.

Now the question is how the Patriots will fill the spot left open on their 53-man roster; favorites from this vantage point would be practice squad WR Terrence Nunn or QB/athlete Isaiah Stanback.