Andrew Beck is the highest-paid New England undrafted free agent

Former Texas Longhorns tight end Andrew Beck didn’t hear his name called during the seven rounds of the 2019 NFL Draft, but he was clearly a priority undrafted free agent target for the New England Patriots — the league’s best-run organization made Beck its highest-paid post-draft acquisition:

As noted, that’s the guaranteed money that Beck will make regardless of whether he makes the New England roster. And there’s a good chance that he does, as SB Nation’s Pats Pulpit noted the lack of depth at tight end following the retirement of Rob Gronkowski:

Without Rob Gronkowski, the tight end group is a thin and unexperienced one in New England’s system: the five men combine for exactly zero in-game appearances for the Patriots. Lacking a true all-around player like Gronkowski, the group is basically split into receivers (Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Stephen Anderson) and blockers (Ryan Izzo, Andrew Beck). Free agency signing Matt LaCosse has probably the best potential to serve as a hybrid in the mold of Gronk.

Beck was mostly known as a blocker at Texas, but he tested well at the Texas Pro Day, showing more athleticism than expected with a 34-inch vertical leap and a 4.19 that was better than wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey’s time at the NFL Combine.

“Today, the focus for me was coming out and showing teams that I can be beneficial in the passing game and I think I did that,” Beck told Burnt Orange Nation.

Given the lack of two-way threats on the Patriots roster, Beck can increase his odds of making the team if he can prove his versatility in the upcoming competition with the one-dimensional players in the group.