FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots signed second-round pick Terrence Wheatley on Tuesday, leaving only top pick Jerod Mayo unsigned among their draftees two days before the start of training camp.
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The cornerback Wheatley started 28 games in four seasons at Colorado and had 14 interceptions, two for touchdowns. He is in a large group of players with a chance to replace star cornerback Asante Samuel, who left for Philadelphia as a free agent. The other starting cornerback, Ellis Hobbs, is coming off offseason surgeries on his left shoulder and for a sports hernia.
Wheatley, the 62nd overall pick in the draft, also is a return threat, having gained 1,350 yards on kickoff returns in college.
On Tuesday the Patriots also signed offensive lineman Lavdrim Bauta, a rookie free agent who spent his final college season at Villanova in 2006. He played the previous three seasons at Duke.
The Patriots signed two third-round picks on Monday -- linebacker Shawn Crable and quarterback Kevin O'Connell. They previously signed cornerback Jonathan Wilhite (fourth round), wide receiver Matthew Slater (fifth) and linebacker Bo Ruud (sixth).
The Patriots picked Mayo -- a linebacker -- with the 10th overall selection in the draft after trading out of the No. 7 spot they obtained in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. New England's regular first-rounder was confiscated by the league as punishment for illegally videotaping opposing coaches during games.
