Patriots Worked Out 5 Players Including WR Jared Abbrederis & S Dezman Southward

Mike Reiss of ESPN reports that the Patriots brought in free agents receivers Jared Abbrederis and Griff Whalen for workouts on Thursday.

• Doug Kyed adds that New England also worked out WR Kevin Smith, LB Taiwan Jones and DB Dezman Southward.

Of this group, the Patriots elected to sign Whalen to a contract.

Abbrederis, 25, is a former fifth-round pick of the Packers back in 2014. Green Bay placed him on injured reserve earlier in the week with a thigh contusion.

Abbrederis was in the second year of his three-year, $1.575 million contract and set to make a base salary of $525,000 for the 2016 season when he was waived from injured reserve with a settlement back in October.

The Bears just recently worked out Abbrederis, so it appears as though his market is picking up.

In 2016, Abbrederis has appeared in five games and caught one pass for eight yards and no touchdowns for the Packers.

Southward, 24, is a former third-round pick of the Falcons back in 2014. He lasted just over a year in Atlanta before he was cut and was later signed by the Colts to their practice squad.

The Colts brought Southward back in a future’s deal but he was waived with an injury settlement during the first week of the regular season.

In 2015, Southward appeared in three games and recorded one tackle for the Falcons.