Dwight Freeney, John Abraham and Adrian Wilson to visit with Patriots

Mike Garafolo, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

The New England Patriots are bringing in three players with a combined 16 Pro Bowl appearances for visits Friday.

In addition to safety Adrian Wilson and defensive end John Abraham, the Pats will host former Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney, according to a person informed of the visit. The person, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the team doesn't comment on free-agent meetings, said Freeney is already in New England.

Despite all the combined personal accolades, there's only one Super Bowl ring among the three. These guys are aging, for sure, but also hungry.

The person said Freeney also remains in play for the Denver Broncos, who continue to have a contract stare-down with defensive end Elvis Dumervil. The Broncos want Dumervil to take a pay cut and he has countered with a proposal to take only minimal slashes to his salary. Dumervil's $12 million salary for this season becomes guaranteed on the fifth day of the league year (Saturday), so a resolution is coming, one way or another.

The Patriots are obviously looking to add experience and reliability to what has been a young, inconsistent defense over the past few seasons. The presence of both Abraham and Freeney, who could both be added to the roster and aren't being played against one another, means they're also looking to upgrade their pass rush on the edges.

The Pats were tied for 15th in the league in sacks last regular season with 37. Rookie defensive end Chandler Jones had five sacks through six games but only one in the next 10 (including the postseason). Abraham and/or Freeney could show last year's first-round pick a thing or two about getting to the quarterback.

Abraham was cut by the Atlanta Falcons recently despite coming off a 10-sack season. He'll turn 35 in May, so money, age and durability were all a concern. Abraham was slowed by an ankle injury in the playoffs. Still, Abraham played in all 16 regular-season games last year and hasn't missed more than one game in any season since 2006.

Abraham is the active sack leader with 122 in his career and told USA TODAY Sports in December he's trying to add to that number to help solidify a Hall of Fame resume. He thinks he can get three more years out of his "raggedy, old body."

Like Abraham and Freeney, Wilson is a smart, durable veteran. The 33-year-old Wilson was released by the Cardinals after 12 seasons in Arizona. After all of that losing, he could use some sustained success over the past few years of his career.

The Patriots are surely after Wilson to help with a pass defense that was the fourth-worst in the NFL last regular season with 271.4 yards allowed per game. The Pats are also trying to re-sign cornerback Aqib Talib, who is being courted by a few teams, including the Washington Redskins.