The Patriots traded their original fifth-round pick (#165 overall) to the Oakland Raiders during the 2006 season for Doug Gabriel. They also traded Patrick Cobbs to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Ross Tucker to the Cleveland Browns prior to the 2006 season for late-round conditional draft picks, but neither players made their respective rosters, so the Patriots received no compensation. As of the Patriots’ first training camp practice at Gillette Stadium on July 27, they had the NFL maximum of 80 players signed to their roster. First-round pick Brandon Meriweather, who was not signed until after training camp began, did not count against that limit until his signing. Asante Samuel also did not count against the limit, as he had not signed yet signed his franchise tag tender and was not in training camp. Finally, the Patriots received five total roster exemptions for the NFL Europa allocations of Brian Barthelmes, Danny Baugher, and Tom Malone (one for each player, plus two bonus exemptions because of the time Baugher and Malone spent on practice squads in 2007). In the Patriots’ fourth matchup with the Jets in 20 games, head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots traveled to Giants Stadium to face his former defensive coordinator in Jets head coach Eric Mangini to open the season. The Jets reached Patriots territory on their opening possession, but were forced to punt. The Patriots then began a 12-play, 91-yard drive that ended in an 11-yard Wes Welker touchdown reception to give the Patriots a 7–0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Kelley Washington forced a fumble on Jets returner Justin Miller after a 26-yard return, but tight end Chris Baker recovered the ball at the Jets’ 33-yard line to retain possession. The Jets went three-and-out, but the Patriots punted back to the Jets despite a 19-yard Donté Stallworth catch to begin their next series. Three plays later, Jets quarterback Chad Pennington was sacked by linebacker Mike Vrabel and defensive lineman Ty Warren, forcing a Jets punt on the final play of the first quarter. Starting from their own 42-yard line after the punt, the Patriots reached the Jets’ 25-yard line, where kicker Stephen Gostkowski lined up for a 42-yard field goal attempt. However, the snap was fumbled by holder Matt Cassel, and recovered by Cassel to turn the ball over on downs. The Jets responded with a 10-play, 66-yard drive, tying the game at 7–7 on a 7-yard pass from Pennington to wide receiver Laveranues Coles.