Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham
Not every trade the New England Patriots make works out.
Twice over the holiday weekend, the Patriots conceded failure on deals that cost them draft choices. They released tight end Alex Smith on Saturday and parted ways with receiver Greg Lewis on Monday.
Lewis might interest the New York Jets, who would like to bolster their receiver corps and could glean a thing or two about the Patriots for their game in Week 2.
The Patriots acquired Lewis and a seventh-round draft choice from the Philadelphia Eagles for a fifth-round pick. He started the last three preseason games, catching one pass in each for a total of 58 yards.
Lewis, entering his seventh NFL season, has 127 career catches for 1,699 yards and seven touchdowns.
New England is loaded at receiver and didn't have much room beyond Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Joey Galloway, Julian Edelman and special-teamer Sam Aiken.
The Patriots must think Galloway will mesh better with the offense eventually because, if a veteran receiver had to be dropped, then his inability to get on the same page as Brady could have sent the Turk his way.
The Patriots sent a 2010 fifth-round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Smith.
Also on Monday, the Patriots picked up safety Bret Lockett off waivers from the Cleveland Browns.