Patriots to release Steve Gregory

The agent for New England Patriots' safety Steve Gregory is reporting via Twitter that his client will be released by the club on Friday.

Patriots will be releasing starting #TeamDEC client Safety Steve Gregory today.
— David Canter (@davidcanter) February 28, 2014

The 31-year-old Gregory has played in 26 regular season games with the Patriots after being signed as free agent from San Diego before the 2012 season.  The Syracuse University product logged 127 total tackles, one sack and three passes defended in his two season in Foxborough.

His release, which ultimately clears right around $2.85 million in cap space for the Patriots, indicates that versatile second-year safety Duron Harmon has been elevated to a starting role across from Devin McCourty, or that the team has identified the position as a priority in either free agency or the draft.

Much more on this story to come.