Projo Pats Blog

July 13, 2008 - July 19, 2008 Archives

The Patriots have announced the signing of fourth-round draft pick Jonathan Wilhite. It is a four-year deal, though financial terms are currently unknown.

The cornerback out of Auburn was the 129th overall selection in April, and one of two corners the Pats selected (Terrence Wheatley is the other) on draft weekend.

Wilhite is represented by Jason Chayut, who is also the agent for former Pats WR Deion Branch. Though that relationship ended badly, it would appear there were no lingering bad feelings between Chayut and the New England front office.

He is the third of the team's seven draft picks to agree to a contract with the team: fifth-round pick WR/DB/SP Matthew Slater was first, followed by sixth-round LB Bo Ruud.

The New England Patriots signed fourth-round draft choice Jonathan Wilhite on Thursday. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The Patriots selected the cornerback with the 129th overall selection of the 2008 NFL Draft out of Auburn University.

Wilhite, 24, played in 34 games with 23 starts at cornerback over three seasons at Auburn, recording 101 tackles (77 solo), three interceptions, 14 passes defensed, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. As a senior in 2007, he played in 12 games with six starts while posting a career-high two interceptions in addition to 30 tackles (22 solo). He started all 10 games in which he played as a junior in 2006, finishing the campaign with 24 tackles (20 solo). His first season at Auburn came as a sophomore in 2005, when he started seven of 12 games and tallied a career-high 47 tackles (35 solo) and finished second on the team with seven passes defensed. Wilhite transferred to Auburn after spending his freshman season at Butler County (Kan.) Community College in 2004. During that season, he totaled five interceptions and earned National Junior College All-American honors.

The NFL Network has unveiled its TV schedule for the NFL preseason, and if you love exhibition football, man, will they have a lot of it for you. Here's a look at the full schedule, which includes 54 games over 26 days.

The big news for local fans is that the Patriots' second preseason game, Sunday night, Aug. 17, at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will be an NFL Network production, to be carried exclusively by the NFL Network. The network also plans to show multiple rebroadcasts of the Pats' other three preseason games, against the Ravens, the Eagles and the Giants.