With the trade addition of outside linebacker/defensive end Derrick Burgess Aug. 5 the Patriots filled out the one, true remaining hole on the roster.

The team made a similar summer move to shore up its defense by trading for veteran nose tackle Ted Washington in Aug. 2003 and Washington proved to be a vital piece to a championship puzzle.

While there are still questions about how the 6-2, 260-pound Burgess will fit in New England's 3-4 front, there's no question he makes the team deeper and, if healthy and motivated, would equal an upgrade in talent. In eight seasons Burgess has 47 career sacks. He had 27 in his first two seasons in Oakland in 2005 and 2006, back-to-back Pro Bowl campaigns that included his league-best 16 sacks in 2005.

Will Burgess give New England even more flexibility to use four-man fronts in addition to its usual 3-4 base? Will Burgess be asked to play up on his feet in space more as a linebacker, something he has experience doing in his time working under former New England linebackers coach Rob Ryan? Will he be more a situational player or an every-down addition to play opposite Adalius Thomas, a bookend pairing of former Pro Bowlers?

All those questions remain to be answered, even for the guy who sent a pair of mid-round picks to Oakland for his newest defensive toy.

"What his role will be, we'll determine after he gets here and start working with him and put him in our system," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said of Burgess, a player he coached at the Pro Bowl following the 2006 season. "Some of the things we do are a little different than what Oakland or Philadelphia did. How exactly he'll perform and what that will turn out to be we'll just have to wait and see.

"I think he's a pretty talented player. I think he has some versatility, but exactly how that all works out and how it manifests itself, we'll just have to wait and see."

With Burgess joining Thomas and budding youngster Pierre Woods, Belichick has a legitimate three-man rotation on the outside, something that was a staple of the New England defense in its best days when the names on the depth chart were Mike Vrabel, Willie McGinest and Rosevelt Colvin. The trade brings not only greater certainty to a New England defense that's clearly considered the weaker side of the ball for the Patriots, it fills a void most of been targeting as a potential fatal flow for the team since Vrabel was traded away last February.

Just over a week into training camp, Patriots' fans are riding a summer high. Tom Brady has been on the practice field each and every day for double sessions, a knee brace seemingly the only sign of his devastating knee injury from last September. The best offense the league has seen in recent years is back together.

And a defense that entered the summer as a question mark at both linebacker and in the secondary added an edge rusher at the same time an impressive competition is playing out for starting jobs, roles and roster spots in its new-look, overhauled defensive backfield.

Not a single preseason snap had been played for the Patriots and "Preseason 2009" already seems like a success.

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