Before they kicked off organized team activities Monday morning, the New England Patriots revealed new jersey numbers for 13 veteran players.
Among the notables:
-- Cornerback Malcolm Butler will wear No. 4 as he begins his second Patriots stint. Butler previously wore No. 21 with New England, Tennessee and Arizona, but that's taken by safety Adrian Phillips. He takes over his new number from quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who was traded to Las Vegas after the draft.
-- Wide receiver DeVante Parker will indeed wear Julian Edelman's old No. 11, which he teased on social media after his trade from Miami.
-- Defensive back Myles Bryant switches from No. 41 to J.C. Jackson's old No. 27.
-- Receiver/running back Ty Montgomery will wear No. 14, ditching the No. 88 he's sported throughout his career. Montgomery last week referred to himself as "Employee No. 14" when asked what his role will be in New England.
-- Tight end Matt Sokol has Rob Gronkowski's old No. 87, bumping wideout Tre Nixon, who wore that number on the practice squad last season, to No. 82.
-- Safety Jabrill Peppers will wear No. 3, as he revealed on Instagram after coming over from the New York Giants.
Here is the full list:
As they have for the past several years, the Patriots assigned their rookies temporary jersey numbers for spring practice and training camp. First-round offensive lineman Cole Strange will wear No. 50 for the time being, with second-round receiver Tyquan Thornton wearing No. 51 and so on.
50: OL Cole Strange
51: WR Tyquan Thornton
52: CB Marcus Jones
53: CB Jack Jones
54: RB Pierre Strong
55: QB Bailey Zappe
58: RB Kevin Harris
59: DL Sam Roberts
62: P Jake Julien
63: OL Chasen Hines
64: DL DaMarcus Mitchell
65: DL LaBryan Ray
66: OL Kody Russey
67: DB Brenden Schooler
69: OL Andrew Stueber
Rookies will receive position-appropriate numbers once the preseason begins in August.
