FOXBOROUGH -- Prior to tonight's game against the Buffalo Bills, Patriots owner Robert Kraft addressed the trade of five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders.

Seymour was dealt to Oakland on Sept. 6, but didn't report to the team until last Saturday.

Kraft expressed his fondness for Seymour, who had been with the team since 2001 and was a part of all three of its Super Bowl title teams.

"Richard is someone I have a strong affection for and someone who was a great contributor here and I think the Raiders are very lucky to have him," said Kraft. "He'll always be one of my favorite Patriots. I'll always consider him a Patriot."

Kraft acknowledged that a hard part of being an owner is having to see players who contributed to its success leave.

"Absolutely, but part of when we bought the team in 1994 it was the beginning of free agency,' said Kraft. "Free agency creates options for players and you know we have a salary cap and we have to balance a lot of things and the difficult part of this business is you become attached to certain players, and it's hard to see them go. This year especially [with], Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel and Richard Seymour, but that's the nature of this business."