With teams across the NFL gobbling up undrafted free agents since the end of the draft, the Cleveland Browns dipped into that pool on Monday and made an unconventional signing.
The Browns signed Marcus Santos-Silva, a Taunton, Mass. native and tight end who didn’t play a single snap of college football.
Santos-Silvia stuck to the hardwood during his college years, playing five seasons of college basketball. His collegiate career began at Virginia Commonwealth University before he spent the last two years playing for Texas Tech.
Santos-Silva certainly has the requisite size to lineup as a tight end. He stands at 6-foot-6 and 251 pounds and showed enough athleticism as a defensive stalwart with the Red Raiders. This past season, Santos-Silva garnered All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors while accumulating 175 points, 151 rebounds and 29 blocks primarily off the bench.
According to Akron Beacon Journal Nate Ulrich, who cited a Browns’ spokesperson, Santos-Silva hasn’t played football since his high school days at Vermont Academy.
This isn’t completely uncharted territory for a former college basketball player to switch sports and try to catch on permanently with a NFL team, especially at the tight end position. Jimmy Graham and Antonio Gates both excelled on the hardwood in college before making the leap to professional football.
Now, Santos-Silva is on that same path.
