New England is the new Natchez.

After signing a free agency deal with the New England Patriots, former Natchez High School athlete Ja-Mes Logan will join Natchez native Stevan Ridley with the organization.

Logan left for New England Thursday and has been participating in minicamp all weekend long. The minicamp serves as the first of a long process to make the 53-man roster for 2014.

For the moment, knowing Logan will be teammates with Ridley after playing against him in little league and in the Southeastern conference is surreal for Logan.

“I was talking with him about it yesterday, and we both just can’t believe it,” Logan said. “We were talking about how we grew up playing baseball against each other, played on opposite sides in the SEC and now are on the same team in the NFL. It’s crazy.”

Ever since joining the Patriots, Ridley has been begging offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to bring in more guys from his neck of the woods.

Ridley got his wish Sunday when the Patriots organization reached out to Logan.

“Ja-Mes is one of my good friends,” Ridley said. “He’s a lifelong friend of mine, and it’s unreal that he’s joining the squad. I’m going to take him under my wing here and help him learn the Patriot way.”

Ridley told Logan he was excited about Logan coming on board because he knows what Logan is capable of. Logan finished third on the Ole Miss Rebels last season in receiving with 44 receptions, 538 yards and three touchdowns.

Logan, who left from Natchez to Texas as a ninth grader, said the draft process was an unnerving one for him, as he believed he would be selected in the seventh round. However, after he saw some players still on the board that were projected to go higher than him, he was preparing himself to enter the free agency market.

Following the draft, an unrecognized number called his mother’s phone, and she didn’t answer. It was the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I was starting to get a little stressed by then,” Logan said. “For some reason, they called her instead of my agent, and she just didn’t pick up because she didn’t recognize the number.”

Meanwhile, Logan’s agent was striking deals on the open market, looking for a landing spot for his client. His agent passed on the Cleveland Browns’ offer and jumped on the offer from the Patriots.

Logan met with New England’s head scout at his pro day a few months prior, and there was a sense of comfort with the organization.

A couple days have passed since Logan scored on a deal, and it still hasn’t hit him that he’s going to get an opportunity to make an NFL squad. The fact that he’ll be catching passes from Tom Brady alongside someone he’s grown up with in Ridley makes the accomplishment that more enjoyable.

“That’s the first thing people ask me about is catching balls from Brady,” Logan said. “A lot of people have been texting me and tweeting me asking that same question, and it just hasn’t sunk in yet.”