Michigan Undrafted Free Agent List
Thought it'd be good to have a thread centralizing the info. So far:
Craig Roh- Carolina Panthers
It's official I am Carolina Panther!!
— Craig Roh (@CraigRoh88) April 27, 2013
Roy Roundtree- Cincinnati Bengals
Roy Roundtree said he will sign with the Cincinnati Bengals
— Mark Snyder (@Mark__Snyder) April 27, 2013
Elliot Mealer- New Orleans Saints
Congrats to client Elliott Mealer @el_mealer , newest member of the New Orleans Saints!#NFL #teamroetzel
— Steve Persia (@spersia24) April 27, 2013
Patrick Omameh- San Francisco 49ers
Patrick Omameh said he will sign with San Francisco
— Mark Snyder (@Mark__Snyder) April 28, 2013
Jordan Kovacs- Miami Dolphins
Jordan Kovacs texts he will sign with the Miami Dolphins
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) April 28, 2013
Kenny Demens- Houston Texans
Michigan LB Kenny Demens to the Texans as well. Brandon Bishop to the Vikings according to @shanephallam
— James Christensen (@NEPatriotsDraft) April 28, 2013
Ricky Barnum- Washington Redskins
Washington it is REDSKINS
— Ricky Barnum Jr (@SlickRicDaRuler) April 28, 2013
Brandin Hawthorne- St. Louis Rams
Former Pahokee, #Michigan LB Brandin Hawthorne went UDFA to the #Rams.
— Matt Porter (@mattyports) April 28, 2013
For anyone interested, Darryl Stonum- Kansas City Chiefs
kansas city chiefs! thanks everyone for the love n support. God is great and he gets the glory. time to work now!
— Darryl Stonum (@CornellStone7) April 28, 2013
And speaking of transfers, Dann O'Neill- Houston Texans
RT @poelbub: @kmeinke Another former Wolverine,OT (Transfer to WMU) Dann O'Neill has signed with the Houston Texans.
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) April 28, 2013
April 28th, 2013 at 11:01 AM ^
Come on, be serious. Your cat wouldn't start for the Lions. Your cat is a pussy.
April 28th, 2013 at 10:24 AM ^
April 27th, 2013 at 10:44 PM ^
I hope they all find success in the NFL and beyond. Go Blue!
April 27th, 2013 at 10:46 PM ^
Maybe I'm channeling my inner Herm, or perhaps I should follow the NFL draft more, but damn you, you infernal kids with your fancy acronyms! I missed out on a great thread for three hours because I had no idea what UDFA stood for.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:51 PM ^
Duly noted and changed.
April 27th, 2013 at 11:54 PM ^
Thanks! It's past the bed time for most of us old farts, but I'll bet it will get more looks tomorrow from acronym challenged people like me.
April 28th, 2013 at 11:13 AM ^
April 27th, 2013 at 11:54 PM ^
Any idea what percent of UFA make rosters?
April 28th, 2013 at 12:01 AM ^
Generally very low. Most teams only have about as many roster spots open as they have draft picks, so UDFAs really have to be special to make the team, or they have to get lucky. If I had to guess, Kovacs is the only one here that has a serious shot at making the roster. The good news? They'll still often have the chance to make six figures on the practice squad.
April 28th, 2013 at 12:13 AM ^
I also wouldn't be surprised if Omameh makes a roster, and I think Roundtree could be a practice squad type of guy.
The vast majority of departing players from Michigan get signed as undrafted free agents if they don't get drafted. Perhaps there are more this year, but that might be the result of only two guys getting drafted. In recent years, guys like James Rogers and Obi Ezeh have been signed as UFAs, so...yeah.
April 28th, 2013 at 10:37 AM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 11:23 AM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 11:28 AM ^
The NFL usually doesn't go for corners who run 4.8 forties...
April 28th, 2013 at 11:39 AM ^
April 28th, 2013 at 12:18 PM ^
I think that just goes to show why it's important for athletes to take the educational piece seriously. Besides, JT does have a Sugar Bowl ring, and thousands of people like me across the country who, should we happen to randomly encounter him anywhere, will happily buy him a beer with only the words "Illinois, 2011."
April 28th, 2013 at 11:15 PM ^
so that 4.8 forty WASN'T backpeddling?
April 28th, 2013 at 11:46 AM ^
I can't imagine Hawthorne is getting a shot while Floyd can't. I wonder if he has simply seen the writing on the wall and is moving on. I mean, I'd love to see all our guys do well, but someone like Barnum has just about zero chance of sticking. I don't think Floyd is a pro, but his odds of making it are no lower than those guys. Maybe he's just choosing to get started on the rest of his life.
April 28th, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^
Hawthorne is a better athlete for his position than Floyd. Hawthorne ran a 4.59 forty and did 27 reps on the bench press. Floyd ran a 4.79 and did just 5 reps on the bench press. To me that sounds like a guy who didn't really care about training. How can you play five years of college football, train for the draft, and then put up just 5 reps? Hell, the scrawny Roy Roundtree did 10 reps and weighs 12 lbs. less than Floyd. Add that to some questionable talent and 0 interceptions as a senior, and teams aren't going to be beating down the door for your services.
For all I know, Floyd will still sign somewhere as an UFA. You never know. But it's not that hard to fathom why a guy like Hawthorne - who could be a very good special teamer - would get a shot ahead of Floyd.
With Floyd's numbers, you'd think he MAY have a shot at playing FS considering his experience at Michigan, but if any scout did his/her homework that person would see th Floyd to FS experiment at Michigan that failed miserably. He can't tackle.
At the end of the day, Floyd was what he was. A decenly sized CB who was best in press coverage/zone coverage from 0-15 yards off the line of scrimmage.
He was never a great tackler, he was never great in man-to-man going down or across the field.
That doesn't get you much in the NFL. It certainly doesn't get you on special teams where you have to run fast and tackle if nothing else.
Then take Hawthorne, the ideal tweener. He likely won't play a meaningful down on defense in the NFL but he has the tools to be a special teams NIGHTMARE! And until Floyd, he's fast (for his size), plenty strong enough, and he can hit.
Cam Gordon will be in a similar, maybe slightly better position than Hawthorne in a couple of years.
...as for the others. I see Kovacs sticking (if he wants), I see Demens sticking (for awhile), and that's it. Maybe Omameh, because when he's "on" he's not bad at all. I just don't think he has that meanstreak.
Nonetheless, I thank all of them for the time they put in at MICHIGAN! They helped bring us back from the depths of hell and I'll never forget even one of them.
Does he even lift?
April 28th, 2013 at 12:30 PM ^
for the draft?
Are there league minimums?
However, it all depends on if they actually make the team or at least make the practice squad.
There are league minimums, and for this year that would be $405,000 for their rookie year, plus any signing bonus they can negotiate.
http://www.steelersdepot.com/2011/07/2011-2014-nfl-minimum-base-salaries/
Edit: It does seem that practice squad players can be paid less than the minimum though.
April 30th, 2013 at 12:55 AM ^
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/transactions/
Listed as signing today. And the only other Wolverine name I see there so far is Elliott Mealer to the Saints, as posted above, in the Sunday signing list, with former Wolverine Sam McGuffie also on today's list signing with the Raiders.