"The New England Patriots have signed Pro Bowl linebacker Jerod Mayo to a five-year contract extension, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Saturday.

Mayo, despite missing two games in October with a sprained knee, ranks third for the Patriots with 68 tackles this season after a year in which he logged a career-best 175 and was voted to his first Pro Bowl. He was the AP's defensive rookie of the year in 2008. "