Patriots continue to keep an eye on veteran free agents like Tye, Darr

After a slow week for workouts last week — likely because they had Thursday night football to deal with — the Patriots have been back at it this week, updating their free-agent emergency lists.


On Wednesday, the Patriots worked out tight end Will Tye and Evan Baylis. The 25-year-old Tye is a 6-foot-2, 262-pounder who has spent three seasons in the NFL. His best season came in 2016, when he had 48 catches for 395 yards and a touchdown. While the Patriots were interested in kicking the tires on Tye, it’s also likely they wanted to pump him for some intel on this week’s opponent, as he was released by the Jets earlier this month.

As for Baylis, the 6-foot-6, 245-pounder was an undrafted free agent out of Oregn who was with the Texans and Colts earlier this summer.

In addition, the Patriots had the following players in for workouts on Monday:

Defensive back Alex Carter (Stanford)
Punter Matt Darr (Tennessee)
Tackle Storm Norton (Toldeo)
Defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa (UCLA)
Guard Cole Toner (Harvard)

Carter and Toner were added to the practice squad following his workout, but there are a couple of names who stand out in that group, including Norton, a hard-nose tackle out of Toldeo. In addition, Darr is a punter who has enjoyed some success in the NFL, and was part of the final cuts this summer with the Dolphins. The 25-year-old Darr played in all 32 games the last two years with Miami, and averaged 46 yards per punt. We’re not saying that Ryan Allen should change his lease to a month-to-month situation, but it’s worth noting in the context of this conversation that through five games, Allen is on pace for his worst season when it comes to yards per punt.