The New England Patriots reportedly added some much-needed tight end depth Wednesday.
The Patriots agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Troy Niklas, a source told NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound tight end spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals after being selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. He visited the Patriots earlier this week.
Niklas, 25, caught a career-high 11 passes for 132 yards with one touchdown in 15 games and 11 starts in 2017. He has 19 career catches for 203 yards with three scores.
Niklas ran a 7.57-second 3-cone with a 4.55-second short shuttle, 32-inch vertical leap and 9-foot, 6-inch broad jump at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2014. He completed 27 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.
The big tight end caught 32 passes for 498 yards with five touchdowns in his junior season at Notre Dame in 2013. He started his college career as a linebacker.
Niklas joins Rob Gronkowski, Dwayne Allen, Jacob Hollister and Will Tye on the Patriots’ tight end depth chart. Gronkowski hinted at retirement after Super Bowl LII, though the latest reports, and comments from Patriots owner Robert Kraft, suggest he will be back in 2018.
Allen, who caught just 10 passes in 2017, carries a $5 million cap hit in 2018. The Patriots still could elect to release Allen to free up more cap room.
