NFL Free Agency: Former Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert still without a team
By J.P. Scott
Former Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert is still avaiable.
It’s technically the only the first day of NFL Free Agency, but the fact remains that Tyler Eifert has not signed with a team, nor are there any “hot” rumors about any teams being interested in him.
Eifert is coming off of a 2017 season in which he only played two games as a result of a surgery to correct a previous back-injury. He’s been in the NFL for five seasons, but has yet to play an entire 16-game schedule during his tenure with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The healthiest anyone has seen him since he was draft was in 2015, when he caught 52 passes for 615 yards and 13 touchdowns. Even during that season, Eifert missed 3 games.
When healthy — going only by the eye-test — Eifert has shown the ability to be one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the NFL. He seems confident that he is back to 100-percent following his recent surgery. Whether or not that confidence is reciprocated by potentially interested NFL franchises remains to be seen.
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The FanSided.com Free Agency Tracker currently lists Eifert as the No. 2 free agent tight end available heading into the new NFL year. With Jimmy Graham signing with the Green Bay Packers, Eifert sits atop that same list as the best available unsigned player at his positon.
Fansided’s Andrea Hangst recently suggested that the Oakland Raiders were a good fit for Tyler Eifert, and up until literally a couple of hours ago, Oakland appeared to be his eventual landing spot. That all changed when the Raiders signed both Lee Smith and Derek Carrier.
For now, Eifert continues to sit and wait. The longer he waits, the better value he becomes for any team looking for a steal in free agency. As we filter through the teams that may now be interested in him, one team comes to mind — especially when words like “value”, “steal” and “tight end” are used: The New England Patriots.
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We’ll continue to track Eifert’s status as well as the status of all former Irish in the NFL.