The New England Patriots have signed former New York Jets tight end Eric Tomlinson ahead of their Week 7 matchup.
The New England Patriots have added depth to their tight end room, and they’ve done it with the signing of a former New York Jet.
On Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported that New England had inked a deal with veteran tight end Eric Tomlinson. The 27-year old spent time with the Jets from 2016-18. New York released him on Aug. 31 of this year.
The #Patriots are making a move to bolster their tight end position, signing former #Giants and #Jets TE Eric Tomlinson to their 53-man roster, source said. The knee injury to Matt LaCosse left them a little short.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 15, 2019
Tomlinson additionally spent a few weeks with the New York Giants prior to signing with the Patriots. Big Blue claimed him off waivers on Sept. 1 before waiving him on Sept. 24.
The tight end originally went undrafted out of the University of Texas at El Paso in 2015. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles but was released in September of 2015 during final roster cuts. He then spent time on the Houston Texans practice squad in 2015 and then again in 2016. The Jets signed him off the Houston practice squad in November of 2016.
Tomlinson played in 36 games for the Jets, starting in 29. In total, he caught 16 balls for 193 yards and a touchdown.
This season, for the Giants, Tomlinson was on the field during the team’s first three matchups against the Cowboys, Bills, and Buccaneers. He didn’t rack up any receiving statistics, only playing seven offensive snaps. Tomlinson mostly played in a special teams role for them, finding himself on the field for 40 snaps in those regards.
It’s unclear the type of role Tomlinson will play with New England.
The Patriots will travel to East Rutherford, NJ to take on the Jets at 8:15 p.m. ET next Monday night.
