Earlier this summer, Dylan Cozens gave up a professional baseball career to pivot to football.
That pursuit brought him to Gillette Stadium this week.
Cozens, a 27-year-old who spent time in the Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers organizations, worked out for the New England Patriots on Thursday, according to a report from ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
Reiss’ report listed Cozens as a tight end. Back in high school, he was a stud defensive end who received more than a half-dozen Power Five offers and verbally committed to Arizona before leaving the sport to sign with the Phillies, who drafted him in the second round in 2012.
“It was one of those deals where he was meant to play football,” Charlie Ragle, Cozens’ coach at Chaparral (Ariz.) High, told Tuscon.com in 2016. “It just so happened that he was a really great baseball player.”
A left-handed-hitting outfielder, the 6-foot-6, 245-pound Cozens played 778 games in the minor leagues and 27 in the majors (all for Philadelphia) over 10 seasons. He announced his retirement from baseball in late June.
“I’ve decided it’s time to chase my dream of playing in the NFL,” Cozens wrote on Twitter.
The Patriots also hosted four other free agents for workouts Thursday, per Reiss’ report: linebackers John Lako and Chris Orr, defensive back Dominique Martin and quarterback Jordan Ta’amu.
Orr appeared in three games for the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted rookie last season. Lako has yet to sign with an NFL team since going undrafted in 2020. Martin finished his career at Tarleton State in 2016 and most recently played in The Spring League. Ta’amu had practice squad stints on the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs last season.
