FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced today that they have released TE Ben Watson. Watson was signed by New England as a free agent on May 10, 2019.

Watson, 38, is a veteran of 15 NFL seasons with the New England Patriots (2004-09), Cleveland Browns (2010-12), New Orleans Saints (2013-15, 2018) and the Baltimore Ravens (2016-17). The 6-foot-3, 251-pounder originally entered the NFL as a first-round draft pick (32nd overall) of the Patriots out of Georgia in 2004 and spent his first six seasons with the team.

During his NFL career, Watson has played in 195 regular-season games with 135 starts and has 530 receptions for 5,885 yards with 44 touchdowns. He has also played in 12 postseason games with nine starts and totaled 22 receptions for 234 yards and three touchdowns.

After six seasons in New England, Watson signed with Cleveland as an unrestricted free agent on March 12, 2010. He joined New Orleans as an unrestricted free agent on March 13, 2013, and signed with Baltimore as an unrestricted free agent on March 10, 2016. After two seasons with Baltimore, Watson re-joined New Orleans as an unrestricted free agent on March 29, 2018.