The Patriots declined to pick up Branch's 2018 contract option Tuesday, and he will now be a free agent this offseason, Doug Kyed of NESN.com reports.
Branch picked up six starts and appeared in 12 total games but was ultimately passed up on the depth chart in favor of Ricky Jean Francois and ended up being a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl. The veteran Branch said he intends to continue playing football, so he'll be on the lookout for a new home this offseason.
Branch (knee) does not appear on Wednesday's injury report.
Branch hasn't taken the field since Week 14 of the regular season when he originally injured the meniscus in one of his knees. However, his absence from the injury report suggests that problem is now a thing of the past.
| Schedule | ||||||
| Week | Date | Opp. | TD | Sacks | Int | FF |
| 1 | 9/7/17 | KC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 9/17/17 | NO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 9/24/17 | HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 10/1/17 | CAR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 10/5/17 | TB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 10/15/17 | NYJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 10/22/17 | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 10/29/17 | LAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 11/12/17 | DEN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | 11/19/17 | OAK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 11/26/17 | MIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | 12/3/17 | BUF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | 12/11/17 | MIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | 12/17/17 | PIT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | 12/24/17 | BUF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 12/31/17 | NYJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Time/Result |
| Defensive Stats | ||||||||||||
| Year | Team | G | Total | Tkl | Ast | Sacks | Int | Yds | Avg | Lg | TD | Pass Def |
| 2007 | Arizona Cardinals | 11 | 9 | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | Arizona Cardinals | 4 | 6 | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | Arizona Cardinals | 16 | 18 | 14.0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2010 | Arizona Cardinals | 16 | 35 | 27.0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2011 | Seattle Seahawks | 15 | 34 | 21.0 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2012 | Seattle Seahawks | 16 | 29 | 16.0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2013 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | 39 | 21.0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2014 | New England Patriots | 8 | 13 | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2015 | New England Patriots | 16 | 35 | 22.0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2016 | New England Patriots | 16 | 49 | 26.0 | 23 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2017 | New England Patriots | 12 | 12 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 146 | 279 | 180.0 | 99 | 10.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | |
| Fumbles | ||||||||||||
| Year | Team | G | Fum | Lost | Fum Forced | Own Rec | Opp Rec | Yds | Tot Rec | TD | ||
| 2007 | Arizona Cardinals | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2008 | Arizona Cardinals | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2009 | Arizona Cardinals | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2010 | Arizona Cardinals | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2011 | Seattle Seahawks | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | Seattle Seahawks | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | New England Patriots | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | New England Patriots | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | New England Patriots | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | New England Patriots | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TOTAL | 146 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
