FOXBORO — It appears that veteran safety John Lynch will soon be a member of the New England Patriots.

Although the team has not made an announcement, various news outlets were reporting last night that the free agent would join the Patriots, with the NFL Network reporting that Lynch had agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.5 million.

Although Patriots coach Bill Belichick would not go into detail, yesterday morning he did confirm reports that the team had brought Lynch in for a visit this week.

“I can tell you that I met with John [Tuesday],” Belichick said. “He came in. We talked. He took a physical. But right now he’s not under contract with the Patriots, so until he is I won’t have any further comment on that other than to say what I just said, which is he was here.”

A nine-time Pro-Bowler, Lynch has played 15 NFL seasons — the first 11 with Tampa Bay, where he was a member of the Buccaneers’ 2002 Super Bowl champion team, and the last four with Denver.

During that time, he recorded 490 total tackles, 348 of them solo, along with 13 sacks.

The 36-year-old, who had 59 tackles (46 solo) last season, was reportedly unhappy with how his role had evolved with the Broncos. He had come to be used primarily on first downs, but came off the field on second- and third-down situations.

When he saw that he was being used on a limited basis in the Broncos training camp this summer and that Marlon McCree, 30, was seeing more time at safety, Lynch requested his release, which Denver granted on Aug. 1.

According to a Denver Post report, he walked away from a one-year $2-million contract that would have guaranteed Lynch $500,000 if he was cut.

This isn’t the first time the Patriots brought Lynch in for a visit. New England was among a number of teams that he visited after Tampa Bay released him in the spring of 2004. At the time, the Bucs said they weren’t interested in keeping Lynch, who had undergone shoulder surgery that year, even if he negotiated down his $4.1-million salary for the following season.

Rookie lineman joins camp

The Patriots yesterday signed rookie Stephen Sene, a 6-foot-6, 310-pound offensive lineman from Colombia, S.C. The 24-year-old — who was originally signed by St. Louis as an undrafted free agent on May 1 but was then released by the Rams on July 28 — played at Liberty University in Virginia.

Playing left tackle, he was part of an offensive line last season that helped Liberty rank No. 3 nationally in scoring offense (42.64 points per game), No. 9 with 32 rushing touchdowns, No. 15 in total offense (429.64 yards per game) and No. 18 nationally in team rushing yards per game (215.91 yards per game).

The Pats released wide receiver Chris Dunlap, whom they had signed as a free agent on July 21. New England had originally signed the Georgia Tech product as an undrafted rookie free agent on May 14, 2007, and he participated in last year’s training camp before being released on Sept. 1.

Spann learns his role

Antwain Spann has impressed Belichick with his progress over the past few months.

“This is really the first season where he has had a full offseason with spring camps, training camp and then the regular season,” he said of the 25-year-old cornerback.

“All that is good for him and has helped him. He has taken advantage of the opportunities that he has gotten there.

“He has been productive and has shown up on a lot of plays. He has played more at safety but he has been a versatile guy for us by playing inside in sub situations as well as outside. He has had a lot more responsibility as far as making calls and adjustments from the safety spot. He has picked that up pretty well even going back to the spring. Certainly that got him off to a good start and gave him a little momentum and gave him some confidence heading into training camp.”

Happy birthday

Mike Vrabel celebrated his 33rd birthday yesterday. The veteran linebacker is embarking upon his 12th NFL season, his eighth with the Patriots. ... Speaking of age, it was incorrectly reported here yesterday that Tom Brady is the fourth-oldest player on the team. There are actually 10 players older than the quarterback — the oldest being tight end Marcus Pollard, who turned 36 last February. Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi aren’t far behind at 35, Barry Stokes is 34, Vrabel, Larry Izzo and Oliver Ross are 33, while Kevin Faulk, John Welbourn and Anthony Clement are 32. In addition to Brady, Randy Moss, Sammy Morris, Stephen Neal and Fernando Bryant are 31. Adalius Thomas will soon join them when he celebrates his birthday on Monday. ... Backup quarterback Matt Gutierrez, who had not practiced with the team since the Aug. 7 preseason opener, was on the field yesterday.

cthorn@projo.com