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The Jets have been in the market for a veteran blocking tight end for some time. They visited with such luminaries as Michael Gaines (who signed with the Bears on Monday) and Robert Royal, but missed out on both, which left them getting back together with a familiar friend. Bubba Franks has re-signed with the team, according to Dave Hutchinson of the Newark Star-Ledger.

The move is a bit of a surprise since Franks isn't really known for his blocking skills. At 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, he's got the size, but he excelled as a red-zone option with the Packers, scoring 27 touchdowns from 2001-04. Injuries have limited him to just 16 games over the past two seasons, however, and he's only caught 24 passes in that time.

Tampa Bay has traded tight end Alex Smith to New England for an undisclosed draft pick in the 2010 draft. The Bucs had reportedly been looking to unload Smith ever since acquiring Kellen Winslow from the Browns at the end of February.

The Patriots weren't exactly bare at the tight end position before this move either. The Pats return Benjamin Watson and David Thomas, their two starters from last year, and signed former Jet Chris Baker to a free-agent deal.

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Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson had ankle surgery a few weeks ago. Shockingly, when asked about it, Watson went into great detail about the procedure and his prognosis going forward: "I can't talk about it. ... You'll have to ask Coach (Bill) Belichick."

The Boston Herald's Karen Guregian writes that "[a]ccording to one source, there is now some concern whether Watson will be ready for training camp in July." That's potentially news, but the perhaps more noteworthy is how Watson was hurt in the first place.

Watson injured the ankle during the second quarter of the Pats' 48-27 Week 6 win at Dallas on Oct. 14. He caught a pass and was dragged down from behind by Cowboys safety Roy Williams.

He missed the next two games before returning in Week 9 against Indianapolis. Watson was also inactive two of the last three games of the regular season after reaggravating the injury in the Pittsburgh game.

Ah, yes, Roy Williams, the guy who has made a good living out of ending other players' careers via the ol' horse-collar tackle.

This is cool: Patriots owner Bob Kraft took defensive end Richard Seymour and tight end Benjamin Watson to Israel. Every year, Kraft brings players with him when he visits Israel with the Combined Jewish Philanthropists of the greater Boston area, but this time is different: 2007-08 marks the "premiere season of tackle football in Israel."

Kraft, Seymour and Watson attended the last game of the regular season in the Israel Football League.

Big Blue Jerusalem Lions ran out as easy winners over Mike's Place Tel Aviv Sabres squad for a 38-0 shutout victory, heading into the first round of the first-year league's playoffs next week.

Speaking in Hebrew and English before the teams took the field for the regular season finale match-up, Kraft welcomed Seymour and Watson to the Holy Land, and expressed his happiness at "watching American football in Israel, the best sport in the world."

The Jerusalem Post reports that both players offered pre-game pep talks to the teams, with Watson consulting the Big Book of Cliches before going all Knute Rockne on the Sabres: "Play as hard as you can, and put in a great effort," Watson encouraged the Sabres prior to kick-off. "Whatever happened last time doesn't matter. It's just about how well you play tonight."

Imagine what the score would've been without Watson's insights. Next year, instead of pep talks, how about Kraft bring Rodney Harrison with him and let him do his talking on the field. Then we'll see just good the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions are. The IFL doesn't drug test, does it?

Hat tip: Reiss's Pieces

Apparently, Tom Brady has his own YouTubes channel. In between courting supermodels and breaking NFL passing records, the Patriots quarterback also has time to upload some old high school footage. Good times.

Here's Brady throwing a series of screen passes, which he, Kevin Faulk and Benjamin Watson would later perfect in New England. And all the hard work on fade routes and bombs early in his football career would pay dividends in 2007 when he tossed 50 touchdown passes (take that, Peyton).

And to think, it all started with a very serious Brady in this recruiting video. Thank god for Betamax.

Hat tip: The Big Lead

It would be easy to say the Patriots will finally be tested this week. Not so much because they're playing the minor league Miami Dolphins -- a team that has given New England trouble over the years -- but because the injuries are starting to pile up.

Running back Sammy Morris left the Dallas game with a chest injury, and he won't play tomorrow. And it looks like tight end Benjamin Watson won't suit up either. Morris filled in nicely for Laurence Maroney, who missed the previous three games with a groin thingy.

Maroney's questionable for tomorrow. Watson is one of the fastest tight ends in the NFL (just ask Champ Bailey), and he's grown into the position. If he can't go, glorified offensive tackle Kyle Brady and Marcellus Rivers could see more time.

But here's the thing: the Pats have been without All Pro defensive end Richard Seymour all season, and steroid-crazed Rodney Harrison just returned to the team last week.

The point: Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick have done an amazing job of building depth on this team. If one guy -- or, hell, five guys go down -- someone always steps up. The only position where that doesn't hold is quarterback. You can talk up Matt Cassel all you want, if Tom Brady goes down, the Pats go with him.

I can't say it enough; Bill Belichick is an evil genius. Much of the talk heading into today's Pats-Jets game was what, exactly, Randy Moss might contribute in a newly defined role that would probably include fewer snaps. Yeah, forget all that noise

Moss, who didn't see the field for one play during the preseason because he was nursing a sore hammy, went bonkers when it actually counted. Tom Brady threw to Moss nine times today, and all the former Mountaineer Thundering Herd/Viking/Raider did was go for 183 yards. Yep, one-hundred eighty-three. Yards. Including a 51-yard touchdown grab in triple-coverage.

Oh, and Jets cornerback Justin Miller might want to temper the NFL's fastest man talk. Because the 30-year-old Moss smoked him on a 33-yard gain late in the second quarter, four plays before Brady found Benjamin Watson for a touchdown that gave the Pats a 14-7 lead.

The Jets lose the opener, sure, but the good news is that it looks like Eric Mangini dropped a few pounds. So there's that, I guess.