Colts Announce 15-Man UDFA Class
The Colts added some important pieces in their 12-man 2023 draft class last weekend and added more today with the announcement of 15 undrafted free agent rookie signings. Here are the undrafted names joining a rather large rookie contingent:
- LB Liam Anderson (Holy Cross)
- WR Cody Chrest (Sam Houston State)
- CB Cole Coleman (Elon)
- G Emil Ekiyor (Alabama)
- RB Darius Hagans (Virginia State)
- WR Johnny King (Southeast Missouri State)
- G Harris LaChance (BYU)
- S Aaron Maddox (Campbell)
- LB Donavan Mutin (Houston)
- CB Tyler Richardson (Tiffin)
- DT Caleb Sampson (Kansas)
- WR Zavier Scott (Maine)
- RB Titus Swen (Wyoming)
- DE Guy Thomas (Colorado)
- WR Braxton Westfield (Carson-Newman)
Indianapolis invested a strong $100,000 guaranteed amount to lure Mutin out of Houston, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Mutin concluded his five-year career with the Cougars leading the team in total tackles in both of the last two years. The physical linebacker’s smaller stature (6-0, 230 pounds) didn’t stop him from making big plays at the college level as he concluded his time in Texas with 18.0 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, four passes defensed, three sacks, and an interception.
Ekiyor was a three-year starter with the Crimson Tide as a guard. He was coming off of an injury to start his redshirt senior season but still managed to start 12 of Alabama’s 13 games. A physical presence on the interior line, Ekiyor led a talented offensive line with 31 knockdown blocks.
The Colts added a few pass catchers to a wide receiving corps rife with opportunities. King adds some legitimate size at 6-foot-4. Chrest was an All-WAC second-team selection in each of the last two years after tallying 1,252 receiving yards and seven touchdowns over those two seasons. Scott is an intriguing weapon who was as much a threat rushing the ball for the Black Bears in 2022 (371 yards, four touchdowns) as he was catching the ball (434 yards and a touchdown).
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/5/23
Here are today’s minor moves from around the NFL:
Buffalo Bills
- Claimed off waivers (from Colts): DE Kameron Cline
New York Giants
- Waived: S Terrell Burgess (with failed physical designation), G Solomon Kindley
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/5/23
Here are a few more mid- to late-round draft picks who signed their four-year rookie contracts today:
Green Bay Packers
- DL Colby Wooden (fourth round, Auburn)
- WR Dontayvion Wicks (fifth round, Virginia)
- DL Karl Brooks (sixth round, Bowling Green)
- K Anders Carlson (sixth round, Auburn)
- CB Carrington Valentine (seventh round, Kentucky)
- RB Lew Nichols (seventh round, Central Michigan)
- S Anthony Johnson Jr. (seventh round, Iowa State)
Indianapolis Colts
- CB Darius Rush (fifth round, South Carolina)
- S Daniel Scott (fifth round, California)
- DE Titus Leo (sixth round, Wagner)
- CB Jaylon Jones (seventh round, Texas A&M)
- T Jake Witt (seventh round, Northern Michigan)
New York Giants
- RB Eric Gray (fifth round, Oklahoma)
- CB Tre Hawkins (sixth round, Old Dominion)
- S Gervarrius Owens (seventh round, Houston)
New York Jets
- RB Israel Abanikanda (fifth round, Pittsburgh)
- LB Zaire Barnes (sixth round, Western Michigan)
- TE Zack Kuntz (seventh round, Old Dominion)
Rams Sign 26-Man UDFA Class
The Rams continue adding to a massive rookie class. After drafting 14 prospects last weekend, Los Angeles has announced the signing of a prodigious 26 undrafted free agents:
- LB Kelechi Anyalebechi, Incarnate Word
- K Tanner Brown, Oklahoma State
- WR Braxton Burmeister, San Diego State
- CB Timarcus Davis, Arizona State
- CB Tyon Davis, Tulsa
- S Collin Duncan, Mississippi State
- K Christopher Dunn, NC State
- RB Tiyon Evans, Louisville
- WR Tyler Hudson, Louisville
- S Tanner Ingle, NC State
- WR Sam James, West Virginia
- OLB Matthew Jester, Princeton
- S Quindell Johnson, Memphis
- CB Jordan Jones, Rhode Island
- C Sean Maginn, Wake Forest
- C Mike McAllister, Youngstown State
- CB Cameron McCutcheon, Western Carolina
- G Grant Miller, Baylor
- TE Christian Sims, Bowling Green
- LB Ryan Smenda, Wake Forest
- WR Xavier Smith, Florida A&M
- LB DeAndre Square, Kentucky
- S Rashad Torrence, Florida
- LS Alex Ward, UCF
- QB Dresser Winn, Tennessee-Martin
- LB Jaiden Woodbey, Boston College
With former kicker Matt Gay now residing in Indianapolis, the Rams have resolved to a kicking competition between Brown and Dunn. Brown had a stellar year with the Cowboys converting 22 of 23 field goal attempts and making all 42 of his extra points. Dunn had an even better 2022, rebounding after 5 missed field goals in 2020 and six misses in 2021. He converted 28 of 29 field goal attempts in 2022 and, over five years with the Wolfpack, never missed one of his 200 extra point attempts.
Gay wasn’t the only special teamer Los Angeles lost. After losing Matthew Orzech to the Packers in free agency, the Rams will give Ward a run at the position. After drafting punter Ethan Evans in the seventh round, Los Angeles is set to have a full rookie special teams unit.
Winn joins the quarterback room behind Matthew Stafford, Stetson Bennett, and Brett Rypien. He threw for nearly 3,000 yards as a sixth-year senior for the Skyhawks with 18 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. The Rams also signed Burmeister, a former starting quarterback at Virginia Tech who transferred to the other coast. Based on his listing with the Rams, he’ll be attempting to switch positions in the NFL.
With only eight linebackers under contract in a base 3-4 defense, the Rams supplemented heavily from the rookie class, drafting three and signing five more undrafted. They similarly added some significant depth at defensive back, drafting two and signing eight more undrafted.
The Rams have a substantial 40 rookies occupying roster spots on the current 90-man roster (which only holds 89 players as of right now). This seems to be a bit emblematic of the Rams recent all-in strategy that resulted in a Super Bowl but left them with a top-heavy roster with hefty contracts. Regardless, it presents many young rookies with clear opportunities for roster spots and playing time.
Texans Sign TE Eric Tomlinson
The Texans are adding to a crowded tight ends room today, bringing on veteran tight end Eric Tomlinson, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. The seven-year journeyman has never been much of a pass catcher but will provide some critical blocking in Houston next year. 
Tomlinson heads to his seventh team after time with the Jets, Patriots, Giants (two stints), Raiders, Ravens, and Broncos. He follows Texans tight ends coach Jake Moreland, who served in the same position last year in Denver, where Tomlinson made 12 starts in 17 appearances. He had previously spent a year and a half as a part of the Ravens bruising rushing attack.
He joins a room that currently rosters Dalton Schultz, Teagan Quitoriano, Brevin Jordan, Mason Schreck, and Andrew Beck. Schultz and Jordan are the primary pass-catching tight ends. Quitoriano and Beck have both historically been more run blockers, with Beck joining Tomlinson in the move from Denver this offseason. Schreck hasn’t seen enough game action to say what his role could be, but he was a strong receiver in college.
This means Tomlinson will have some competition for his current role. It’s hard to picture the Texans keeping more than three or four tight ends on the 53-man roster come September. With Schultz and Jordan in the passing attack, that leaves Quitoriano, Tomlinson, Beck, and Schreck battling it out for maybe two open roster slots.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/3/23
We had our first draft pick signing of the 2023 rookie class today. We will track such mid- and late-round picks who sign their four-year rookie deals like this:
Carolina Panthers
- S Jammie Robinson (fifth round, Florida State)
The Panthers used their fifth-round pick to take the defensive back who spent time both with the Seminoles in Tallahassee and the Gamecocks in Columbia. The versatile safety matched aggression with ball skills collecting 15.5 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, and 16 passes defensed over his career.
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/3/23
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Waived: CB John Reid
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: G Colby Gossett
Gossett returns to Cleveland after two years in Atlanta. During his time with the Falcons, Gossett appeared in 31 games, including all 17 in 2022, and five starts, with four of those coming last year.
Chiefs Sign T Donovan Smith
The Chiefs have potentially found their starting left tackle for 2023, signing former Buccaneers tackle Donovan Smith, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Smith will reportedly be agreeing to a one-year contract worth up to $9MM. 
The reigning Super Bowl champions watched blindside tackle Orlando Brown walk in free agency after failing to reach a long-term deal, leaving a hole on the left end of the offensive line. While many expected Kansas City’s big offseason free agent addition Jawaan Taylor to fill in the left tackle slot, it makes much more sense to keep him where he played during his time in Jacksonville and allow Smith, who has played his entire career at left tackle, to take over for Brown.
Smith has played in Tampa Bay for his entire eight-year career. The $9MM deal will be the least Smith has averaged annually in a contract since his rookie deal, but it’s still a formidable contract for a tackle about to turn 30 who missed multiple games for the first time in his career last season.
With some changes in the receiving corps and on either end of the offensive line, quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be at the helm of a bit of a different-looking attack then last year. The Chiefs did a good job of replacing Brown and Andrew Wylie with Smith and Taylor and invested some draft capital in second-round wide receiver Rashee Rice to help offset the loss of JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Smith provides Mahomes and company with a veteran presence who’s used to playing in big games. If he can avoid double-digit penalties, something he’s struggled with over his career, he should be a serviceable replacement for the four-time Pro Bowler for whom he’s filling in.
Post-Draft Notes: Seahawks, Washington, Jaguars
The Seahawks were able to obtain both the top cornerback and top wide receiver on their board last Thursday when they drafted Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 5 overall and Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba at No. 20 overall. There had been rumors that Seattle had their eyes on Jalen Carter at No. 5, but with some troubling pre-draft issues, Carter wasn’t likely worth a top-five pick anymore.
A few teams had ideas of trading into Seattle’s pick and there’s a chance the Seahawks would’ve listened. General manager John Schneider, though, clarified that there were two players who would’ve prevented the Seahawks from trading down, according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. Witherspoon happened to be one of them.
It’s unclear who the other player might have been or if they were even still available, but the Seahawks didn’t trade out of their top draft spot, so it’s clear that they were able to get their guy in Witherspoon.
Here are a few other rumors following the 2023 NFL Draft:
- New Steelers tight end Darnell Washington experienced a bit of a slide in the draft this weekend. The former-Georgia Bulldog had a first- to second-round grade going into the Thursday with many expecting him to be the fourth or fifth tight end off the board. Especially after a run of tight ends started in the second round, it was surprising not to hear Washington’s name called. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, injuries were the reason for the slide. Washington’s knee was a concern, but reportedly, there were other things on his medical that contributed to teams’ hesitancy, as well. The scout giving this information also called the slide “laughable,” asserting that he expects Washington to play for a long time in the NFL.
- The Jaguars had a number of Day 3 picks that they used on Saturday. 10 to be exact. It sounds like they tried to sell some of them off and failed. According to ESPN’s Michael DiRocco, Jacksonville’s general manager, Trent Baalke, attempted to trade up in the draft’s later round and got denied. Multiple times. “We went through 15 or 16 teams when we were trying to trade up,” Baalke told the media. “Every team behind us and not one would make a move.”
Vikings Sign 15 UDFAs
The Vikings have officially added to their six-man draft class, announcing the signing of 15 undrafted free agents last night. Here is the list of undrafted rookies who will be given an opportunity in Minnesota this summer:
- C Alan Ali, TCU
- DT Calvin Avery, Illinois
- LB Abraham Beauplan, Marshall
- OLB Andre Carter II, Army
- OL Jacky Chen, Pace
- CB C.J. Coldon, Oklahoma
- LB Wilson Huber, Cincinnati
- WR Cephus Johnson, Southeastern Louisiana
- WR Malik Knowles, Kansas State
- LB Ivan Pace, Cincinnati
- K Jack Podlesny, Georgia
- TE Ben Sims, Baylor
- WR Thayer Thomas, NC State
- CB NaJee Thompson, Georgia Southern
- CB Jaylin Williams, Indiana
The team has also invited Ouachita Baptist running back T.J. Cole to rookie minicamp, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. The former-Tiger was also invited to go to Philadelphia for the Eagles’ rookie minicamp, as well.
Minnesota was able to nab the 2022 AAC Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American linebacker in Cincinnati’s Pace. He’ll have the opportunity to continue working alongside his former teammate, Huber, in rookie minicamp.
The Vikings brought in some strong pass catchers in Knowles, Thomas, and Sims. Johnson will look to continue developing as a receiver. He spent time at Southeastern Louisiana as both a backup quarterback and wide receiver, although he only had three catches in college. They also added a few defensive backs with ball skills in Coldon, Thompson, and Williams. Thompson didn’t have the interception totals of Coldon and Williams, but after playing both sides of the ball, he should have the hands to start turning deflections into picks.
Podlesny is an intriguing addition for Minnesota. The Vikings re-signed incumbent kicker Greg Joseph after a season that saw him miss seven field goals attempts, six of which were attempts over 50 yards. Joseph’s new deal is only for one year, though, leaving an opportunity for a potential kicking competition. Podlesny provides Minnesota with a second kicking option, but after not attempting a field goal over 50 yards in all of 2022, it’s to be determined if Podlesny represents a potential improvement.