Veteran wide receiver Deion Branch injured his hamstring earlier this week, and it appeared as if he would be questionable for New England's Week 11 game against the Colts. Instead, he won't play against Indianapolis because he was cut by the Pats on Saturday.

The Patriots announced the news, which was first reported by Tom Curran of CSN New England, that Branch and Malcolm Williams were released to make room for cornerback Aqib Talib and wideout Greg Salas.

Talib is coming off a four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances (Adderall, he said) and will be making his Patriots debut against the Colts. The team acquired him in the middle of the suspension.

New England traded for Salas this offseason but cut him, then re-acquired him for their practice squad.

Branch is a long-time Patriot, having spent only a brief period of his career with Seattle before returning to New England. He'll be on waivers until Monday, at which time any team in the NFL could claim him. If he goes unclaimed, Branch could return to New England; given their penchant for making moves and always finding a way to roster Branch, that wouldn't be surprising at all.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, subscribe to our RSS Feed watch Pro Football 360 daily at 3 p.m. ET and NFL newsletter. You can follow Will Brinson on Twitter here: @willbrinson.