The New England Patriots have signed OLB Rob Ninkovich and DB Jamar Love, the team announced Sunday. As first reported by Scout.com via Twitter, the Patriots also waived OLB Vince Redd.

Ninkovich, 6-2, 255 pounds, is a veteran of three NFL seasons with the New Orleans Saints (2006, 2008) and Miami Dolphins (2007-2008). He was originally a fifth-round draft pick by New Orleans in 2006 out of Purdue. Ninkovich played in three games as a rookie with the Saints and was then claimed off waivers by Miami in 2007 and played in four games that season. He began the 2008 season on the Miami practice squad before being signed to the 53-man roster in early November and playing as a reserve for one game. Ninkovich re-joined the Miami practice squad until being signed to the New Orleans 53-man roster in early December. He was inactive for the final four games of the 2008 season for New Orleans.

The Saints released Ninkovich on July 30, 2009. Love, 6-0, 191 pounds, was originally signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent out of Arkansas on April 30, 2009 before being released on July 29, 2009.

Redd, 6-6, 260 pounds, was originally signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent out of Liberty on May 2, 2008. He spent the first part of his rookie season on the practice squad before being signed to the 53-man roster. Redd played in five of the final six games and finished with two tackles on defense and six special teams tackles.

Head coach Bill Belichick discussed some of the moves.

"Well, Rob is a guy we did quite a bit of work on coming out three years ago at Purdue and (Anthony) Spencer was also in that class. When Spencer got hurt, then Ninkovich played and he actually had a very good senior year. He sort of came into the draft pretty much all on his senior year of production. He’s an outside linebacker that has some value in the kicking game and some versatility out there in terms of playing the run, pass rushing and that type of thing. When he became available, we followed up on it and felt like he’d be competitive here in camp. Vince came in here as a free agent, made the practice squad and ended up playing at the end of the season. I just think where we are defensively, there are probably other teams where he would fit a little bit better schematically in with the skills that he has."

There's a belief in some circles that the team may use more 4-3 looks than in previous seasons, and Redd may not be as good a fit for that scheme as Ninkovich is.

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