Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

The Patriots released a statement this afternoon relating to news that former video assistant Matt Walsh will meet with commissioner Roger Goodell on May 13 regarding Spygate:

The New England Patriots are pleased to learn that Matt Walsh is finally willing to come forward to meet with the NFL. We are eagerly anticipating his honest disclosures to Commissioner Goodell next month and the return of all the materials he took during his time of employment. We fully expect this meeting to conclude the league's investigation into a damaging and false allegation that was originally levied against the team on the day before this year's Super Bowl.

It is important to note that there has never been a confidentiality agreement restricting Matt Walsh and no legal protections were ever necessary for him to speak to the NFL, to media outlets or to anyone else regarding his employment with the Patriots. He demanded to be released from responsibility for his statements, and after a frustrating and lengthy negotiation period, a settlement has finally been reached. Walsh has been granted a significant number of privileges through this agreement, none of which the Patriots or the NFL were obligated to give.

At all times, we cooperated fully with the league's investigation and stand by our initial public statement from Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008: "The suggestion that the New England Patriots recorded the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 is absolutely false.

The Patriots' organizational focus at this time is on the NFL Draft and preparing for what we hope will be an exciting 2008 season. We will have no further comments regarding Matt Walsh at this time.

The statement ties Walsh to a Boston Herald report suggesting the presence of a videotape showing the St. Louis Rams' walk-through practice prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. The Herald report did not mention Walsh by name.