The Patriots signed defensive back Ross Ventrone to their practice squad on Wednesday, bringing back a player they signed as an undrafted rookie out of Villanova in 2010.
It was the 30th transaction for New England and Ventrone; over the course of his first three seasons with the team, he was shuttled back and forth between the 53-man roster and practice squad, each promotion, release and re-signing counting as a transaction. In 2011, there were 21 such moves, as Ventrone played in eight regular-season games but the Patriots were doing what they could to preserve his practice squad eligibility (back then, if a player played in nine games in one season he could no longer be on a practice squad).